Structural genes for flagellar hook-associated proteins in Salmonella typhimurium

The flaW, flaU, and flaV genes of Salmonella typhimurium LT2 were cloned into pBR322. These genes were mapped on the cloned DNA fragments by restriction endonuclease analysis and construction of the deletion derivatives. Their gene products were identified, by the minicell method, as proteins whose molecular weights were estimated to be 59,000 for the flaW product, 31,000 for the flaU product, and 48,000 for the flaV product. These values are identical to those of three species of hook-associated proteins (HAPs), namely, HAP1, HAP3, and HAP2. Furthermore, antibodies against HAP1, HAP3, and HAP2 specifically reacted with the gene products of flaW, flaU, and flaV, respectively. Therefore, we concluded that they are structural genes for HAPs. The antibodies against HAP1 and HAP3 also specifically reacted with the gene products of flaS and flaT of Escherichia coli, respectively. This indicates that these gene products are HAPs in E. coli. This result is consistent with the demonstration that flaS and flaT of E. coli are functionally homologous with flaW and flaU of S. typhimurium.