PRINCIPLES OF SENSORY RECEPTION AND MOTOR FUNCTION

细菌趋化性，可能是人类最原始的行为系统 尽管如此，生物学还是相当复杂的。人们已经了解了很多关于 运动细胞器的结构，鞭毛，就其 结构基因及其组成部分。基本所有的序列 鞭毛基因的一部分是已知的。 这项建议的重点是鞭毛的组装过程和 随之而来的外部零部件出口流程。我们的目标是 建立出口设备的组件(与 蛋白质输出)，仪器位于何处，以及最终如何 它起作用了。存在几个用于出口设备部件的候选， 基于从以前的研究中获得的各种信息。 将收集关于一般蜂窝位置的基本信息 和推测仪器部件的化学计量学；证据 它们之间的相互作用将通过基因间抑制和 亲和力技术。关于进程的几个具体问题将 例如，鞭毛等亚结构的长度如何 钩子是否受控制，以及是否存在 在组装过程中出现，然后被丢弃。 细胞如何组装复杂的细胞器是一个基本问题，而且 细菌鞭毛是一个很好的探索系统。因此， 拟议的研究具有内在的生物学意义和重要性。 更重要的是，最近意识到出口 鞭毛蛋白与致病菌毒力因子的输出 就像鼠疫耶尔森氏菌一样，它们之间有某种联系。至少有四个 两个系统的假定出口组件非常相似 (氨基酸同一性高达50%)，这一发现很可能具有 重大的机械论和进化论含义。一种理解 病原体如何输出像侵袭素和粘附素这样的分子 在设计对抗病原体的临床方法方面。对两者的研究 就理解而言，系统可能是互惠互利的 这种特殊的出口过程；鞭毛遗传的事实 更好地理解系统可能使其能够在 这项调查。

Bacterial chemotaxis, perhaps the most primitive behavioral system in biology, is nonetheless quite complex. Much has been learned about the structure of the motor organelle, the flagellum, in terms of its structural genes and its components. The sequences of essentially all of the flagellar genes are known. This proposal focuses on the process of flagellar assembly and on the attendant process of export of external components. The goal is to establish the components of the export apparatus (as opposed to the proteins exported), where the apparatus is located, and ultimately how it functions. Several candidates for export apparatus components exist, based on a miscellany of information deriving from previous studies. Basic information will be gathered as to the general cellular location and stoichiometry of putative components of the apparatus; evidence for interactions among them will be sought by intergenic suppression and affinity techniques. Several specific questions regarding process will be addressed, such as how the lengths of substructures like the flagellar hook are controlled, and whether there are scaffolding elements that are present during assembly and then discarded. How a cell assembles a complex organelle is a fundamental question, and the bacterial flagellum is an excellent system for its exploration. Thus the proposed research is of intrinsic biological interest and importance. Further significance derives from the recent realization that export of flagellar proteins and export of virulence factors by pathogenic bacteria like Yersinia pestis are somehow related. There are at least four putative export components of the two systems that are remarkably similar (up to 50% amino acid identity), a finding that is likely to have significant mechanistic and evolutionary implications. An understanding of how a pathogen exports molecules like invasins and adhesins could aid in designing clinical approaches for combating pathogens. Study of both systems is likely to be mutually beneficial in terms of understanding this special class of export process; the fact that the flagellar genetic system is better understood may enable it to provide a leading role in the investigation.