Gliding motility of Mycoplasma sp. nov. strain 163K

Rosengarten, Renate; Kirchhoff, H

doi:10.1128/jb.169.5.1891-1898.1987

Cited by 54 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…At all stages of growth, M. mobile glides smoothly and continuously on glass at an average speed of 2.0 to 4.5 m/s, or about 3 to 7 times the length of the cell per s (27), exerting a force of up to 27 piconewtons (pN) (20,21). These distinct characteristics enabled detailed analyses of gliding (6,(20)(21)(22)(26)(27)(28) and isolation of gliding mutants that were characterized by reduced or deficient gliding or enhanced speed (23,28). …”

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Spike Structure at the Interface between GlidingMycoplasma mobileCells and Glass Surfaces Visualized by Rapid-Freeze-and-Fracture Electron Microscopy

Miyata

Petersen

2004

J Bacteriol

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Mycoplasma mobile is a flask-shaped bacteria that binds to a substrate and glides towards its tapered end, the so-called "head-like protrusion," by an unknown mechanism. To search for cellular structures underlying this motility, the cell-substrate interface of actively gliding cells was visualized by rapid-freeze-and-freezefracture rotary-shadow electron microscopy. Novel structures, called "spikes," were observed to protrude from the cell membrane and attach to the glass surface at their distal end. The spikes were on average 50 nm in length and 4 nm in diameter, most abundant around the head, and not observed in a nonbinding mutant. The spikes may be involved in the mechanism of binding, gliding, or both.Mycoplasma gliding. Mycoplasmas are bacteria that lack a cell wall and are parasitic or commensal to many kinds of hosts, including humans, animals, and plants (25). Several mycoplasma species have a membrane protrusion at one end, called the "head-like protrusion," which creates the organism's characteristic flask-shaped cell morphology. These bacteria are capable of gliding motility, enabling them to translocate smoothly on solid surfaces, always in the direction of the headlike protrusion (3, 13). Although gliding motility of mycoplasmas is believed to be involved in pathogenicity, the mechanism of gliding motility has not been well investigated. Mycoplasmas do not have any homologs of genes that encode pili, flagella, genes related to other bacterial motility, or motor proteins that are common in eukaryotic motility, such as myosins (5,7,9,19). These facts suggest that mycoplasmas glide by an entirely unknown mechanism, but this mechanism has been difficult to isolate because many species of mycoplasma travel at low speed and with interrupted motility.The species Mycoplasma mobile provides an opportunity to study mycoplasma gliding motility, because this species is the fastest gliding and, unlike other species, glides without interruption (13-15, 20, 21, 27). At all stages of growth, M. mobile glides smoothly and continuously on glass at an average speed of 2.0 to 4.5 m/s, or about 3 to 7 times the length of the cell per s (27), exerting a force of up to 27 piconewtons (pN) (20,21). These distinct characteristics enabled detailed analyses of gliding (6,(20)(21)(22)(26)(27)(28) and isolation of gliding mutants that were characterized by reduced or deficient gliding or enhanced speed (23,28).

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Spike Structure at the Interface between GlidingMycoplasma mobileCells and Glass Surfaces Visualized by Rapid-Freeze-and-Fracture Electron Microscopy

Miyata

Petersen

2004

J Bacteriol

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“…bacteria tracking | gliding ghost | leg protein | pairwise distance function | F 1 -ATPase T he fastest of the Mycoplasma species is Mycoplasma mobile (M. mobile); they glide with a speed of 2.0-4.5 μm·s −1 (1,2). Under an optimal-growth condition, cultivated single M. mobile cells are flask-shaped (Fig.…”

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Unitary step of gliding machinery in Mycoplasma mobile

Kinosita

Nakane

Sugawa

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Among the bacteria that glide on substrate surfaces, Mycoplasma mobile is one of the fastest, exhibiting smooth movement with a speed of 2.0-4.5 μm·s −1 with a cycle of attachment to and detachment from sialylated oligosaccharides. To study the gliding mechanism at the molecular level, we applied an assay with a fluorescently labeled and membrane-permeabilized ghost model, and investigated the motility by high precision colocalization microscopy. Under conditions designed to reduce the number of motor interactions on a randomly oriented substrate, ghosts took unitary 70-nm steps in the direction of gliding. Although it remains possible that the stepping behavior is produced by multiple interactions, our data suggest that these steps are produced by a unitary gliding machine that need not move between sites arranged on a cytoskeletal lattice.

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“…It glides up to four cell lengths per second (2.5 m/s) in the direction of the apex, which is designated as a head-like structure (30). However, little is known about force generation (28,29).…”

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Force and Velocity of Mycoplasma mobile Gliding

2002

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The effects of temperature and force on the gliding speed of Mycoplasma mobile were examined. Gliding speed increased linearly as a function of temperature from 0.46 m/s at 11.5°C to 4.0 m/s at 36.5°C. A polystyrene bead was attached to the tail of M. mobile using a polyclonal antibody raised against whole M. mobile cells. Cells attached to beads glided at the same speed as cells without beads. When liquid flow was applied in a flow chamber, cells reoriented and moved upstream with reduced speeds. Forces generated by cells at various gliding speeds were calculated by multiplying their estimated frictional drag coefficients with their velocities relative to the liquid. The gliding speed decreased linearly with force. At zero speed, the force measurements extrapolated to 26 pN at 22.5 and 27.5°C. At zero force, the speed extrapolated to 2.3 and 3.3 m/s at 22.5 and 27.5°C, respectively-the same speeds as those observed for free gliding cells. Cells attached to beads were also trapped by an optical tweezer, and the stall force was measured to be 26 to 28 pN (17.5 to 27.5°C). The gliding speed depended on temperature, but the maximum force did not, suggesting that the mechanism is composed of at least two steps, one that generates force and another that allows displacement. Other implications of these results are discussed.Mycoplasmas are parasitic bacteria with a small genome and no peptidoglycan layer (27). Several mycoplasma species have a distinct cell polarity characterized by a protruding membrane extension, the attachment organelle (27). They are able to attach to and glide on glass, plastic, and eukaryotic cell surfaces, always moving in the direction of the organelle (19). The gliding mechanism is unknown. Mycoplasmas do not have any appendages such as flagella or pili (19) or any genes obviously related to motility, including motor proteins such as myosin or kinesin (7, 10, 13). However, a transmembrane protein associated with a cytoskeleton-like structure has been shown to be necessary for glass binding in Mycoplasma pneumoniae (22).Mycoplasma mobile, isolated from a fish gill organ, has a conical cell structure, with the attachment organelle at the apex of the cone. It glides up to four cell lengths per second (2.5 m/s) in the direction of the apex, which is designated as a head-like structure (30). However, little is known about force generation (28,29). In this study, to characterize its gliding motility, we attached a bead to the tail end of M. mobile and measured the gliding force as a function of speed using viscous flow and an optical tweezer. MATERIALS AND METHODSCultivation. M. mobile strain 163K (ATCC 43663) was grown as described previously (25).Measurements of gliding speed. M. mobile cells in a culture at an optical density at 600 nm of 0.03 to 0.1 were collected by centrifugation at 10,000 ϫ g for 4 min at room temperature and resuspended in a fivefold-smaller volume of medium. A 5-l aliquot was sealed between a coverslip and a slide within a thin ring of Apiezon M grease (Apiezon Products, L...

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Gliding motility of Mycoplasma sp. nov. strain 163K

Cited by 54 publications

References 14 publications

Spike Structure at the Interface between GlidingMycoplasma mobileCells and Glass Surfaces Visualized by Rapid-Freeze-and-Fracture Electron Microscopy

Spike Structure at the Interface between GlidingMycoplasma mobileCells and Glass Surfaces Visualized by Rapid-Freeze-and-Fracture Electron Microscopy

Unitary step of gliding machinery in Mycoplasma mobile

Force and Velocity of Mycoplasma mobile Gliding

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