Complete structure of the chemosensory array core signalling unit in an E. coli minicell strain

Alister Burt, C. Keith Cassidy, Peter Ames, Maria Bacia-Verloop, Megghane Baulard, Karine Huard, Zaida Luthey-Schulten, Ambroise Desfosses, Phillip J. Stansfeld, William Margolin, John S. Parkinson and Irina Gutsche ()
Additional contact information
Alister Burt: IBS
C. Keith Cassidy: University of Oxford
Peter Ames: University of Utah
Maria Bacia-Verloop: IBS
Megghane Baulard: IBS
Karine Huard: IBS
Zaida Luthey-Schulten: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Ambroise Desfosses: IBS
Phillip J. Stansfeld: University of Oxford
William Margolin: The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
John S. Parkinson: University of Utah
Irina Gutsche: IBS

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Motile bacteria sense chemical gradients with transmembrane receptors organised in supramolecular signalling arrays. Understanding stimulus detection and transmission at the molecular level requires precise structural characterisation of the array building block known as a core signalling unit. Here we introduce an Escherichia coli strain that forms small minicells possessing extended and highly ordered chemosensory arrays. We use cryo-electron tomography and subtomogram averaging to provide a three-dimensional map of a complete core signalling unit, with visible densities corresponding to the HAMP and periplasmic domains. This map, combined with previously determined high resolution structures and molecular dynamics simulations, yields a molecular model of the transmembrane core signalling unit and enables spatial localisation of its individual domains. Our work thus offers a solid structural basis for the interpretation of a wide range of existing data and the design of further experiments to elucidate signalling mechanisms within the core signalling unit and larger array.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-14350-9

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