Negative transcriptional regulation in the Caulobacter flagellar hierarchy

The Caulobacter crescentus flagellum is formed at a specific time in the cell cycle and its assembly requires the ordered expression of a large number of genes. These genes are controlled in a positive trans-acting hierarchy that reflects the order of assembly of the flagellum. Using plasmids carrying transcriptional fusions of either a neo or a lux reporter gene to the promoters of three flagellar genes representing different ranks in the hierarchy (the hook operon, a basal body gene flbN, and the flaO gene), we have measured the level of chimeric gene expression in 13 flagellar mutant backgrounds. Mutants in the hook operon or in basal body genes caused overproduction of both hook operon and basal body gene chimeric mRNAs, suggesting that negative regulation is superimposed on the positive trans-acting control for these early events in the flagellar hierarchy. Mutants in the structural genes and in genes involved in flagellar assembly had no effect on flaO expression, placing the flaO gene near the top of the hierarchy. However, flaO expression appears to be under negative control by two regulatory genes flaS and flaW. Negative control, as a response to the completion of specific steps in the assembly process, may be an important mechanism used by the cell to turn off flagellar gene expression once the gene product is no longer needed.