PRINCIPLES OF SENSORY RECEPTION AND MOTOR FUNCTION

细菌的趋化性，也许是最原始的行为系统， 生物学，仍然是相当复杂的。 我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。 基本上所有的序列 的鞭毛基因是已知的。 该建议的重点是鞭毛组装的过程和 外部组件出口的附带过程。 目标是 建立出口设备的组成部分（而不是 蛋白质输出），该装置位于何处，以及最终如何 它的功能。 存在几种出口设备组件的候选者， 基于以前研究中的混杂信息。 基本信息将被收集到一般蜂窝位置 和化学计量的推定组成部分的装置;证据 它们之间的相互作用将通过基因间抑制来寻求， 亲和技术 关于过程的几个具体问题将 例如，鞭毛等亚结构的长度 钩是受控，以及是否有脚手架元件， 在组装期间存在，然后丢弃。 细胞如何组装成复杂的细胞器是一个基本问题， 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，最近认识到， 鞭毛蛋白与病原菌毒力因子的输出 比如鼠疫耶尔森菌是有某种联系的 至少有四 这两个系统的假定出口组件非常相似 (up至50%氨基酸同一性），这一发现可能具有 重要的机械和进化意义。 的理解 病原体如何输出分子如侵袭素和粘附素 设计临床方法来对抗病原体。 两者的研究 系统在理解方面可能是互利的 这种特殊的输出过程;事实上，鞭毛遗传 更好地理解这一制度，可使其在以下方面发挥主导作用： 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.