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Multiple pilus motors cooperate for persistent bacterial movement in two dimensions

Claudia Holz1, Dirk Opitz, Lilo Greune

  • 1Institut für Molekulare Zellbiologie, Schlossplatz 5, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Germany.

Physical Review Letters
|May 21, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Bacterial surface motility, driven by type IV pili, is not random. More pili on Neisseria gonorrhoeae increase persistent movement, suggesting a tug-of-war mechanism.

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Bacterial Motility
  • Cellular Biophysics

Background:

  • Surface motility in bacteria is crucial for various processes.
  • Type IV pili are known mediators of bacterial surface movement.
  • The precise mechanism and trajectory patterns of bacterial movement remain incompletely understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the movement patterns of Neisseria gonorrhoeae.
  • To determine the relationship between pilus number and bacterial movement persistence.
  • To elucidate the underlying mechanism of bacterial surface motility.

Main Methods:

  • Quantitative analysis of Neisseria gonorrhoeae movement.
  • Correlation analysis of persistent movement time with pilus number.
  • Measurement of individual pilus unbinding and stalling forces.

Main Results:

  • The correlation time of persistent movement in Neisseria gonorrhoeae was found to increase with the number of pili.
  • Individual pilus unbinding force (10 pN) was significantly lower than the stalling force (>100 pN).

Conclusions:

  • Bacterial movement, specifically in Neisseria gonorrhoeae, does not follow a simple random walk.
  • A tug-of-war mechanism, influenced by pilus density, force, and adhesion, governs bacterial motility.

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