Cytoskeletal "jellyfish" structure of Mycoplasma mobile

Mycoplasma mobile, a parasitic bacterium lacking a peptidoglycan layer, glides on solid surfaces in the direction of a membrane protrusion at a cell pole by a unique mechanism. Recently, we proposed a working model in which cells are propelled by leg proteins clustering at the protrusion's base. The legs repeatedly catch and release sialic acids on the solid surface, a motion that is driven by the force generated by ATP hydrolysis. Here, to clarify the subcellular structure supporting the gliding force and the cell shape, we stripped the membrane by Triton X-100 and identified a unique structure, designated the "jellyfish" structure. In this structure, an oval solid "bell" approximately 235 wide and 155 nm long is filled with a 12-nm hexagonal lattice and connected to this structure are dozens of flexible "tentacles" that are covered with particles of 20-nm diameter at intervals of approximately 30 nm. The particles appear to have 180 degrees rotational symmetry and a dimple at the center. The relation of this structure to the gliding mechanism was suggested by its cellular localization and by analyses of mutants lacking proteins essential for gliding. We identified 10 proteins as the components by mass spectrometry and found that these do not show sequence similarities with other proteins of bacterial cytoskeletons or the gliding proteins previously identified. Immunofluorescence and immunoelectron microscopy revealed that two components are localized at the bell and another that has the structure similar to the F(1)-ATPase beta subunit is localized at the tentacles.