A novel evolutionary study explains how the Bacterial Flagellar Motor came to be. This deceptively simple mechanism has given bacteria the freedom to swim and explore the world around them for over 3.5 billion years. The University of Auckland’s Dr. Nick Matzke is the lead researcher on the new study. Unraveling Bacterial Stators They dig into how Bacterial Stators, proteomic proteins that function like car engine pistons. These discoveries, published in the journal mBio, shed light on how life first took advantage of motion in such an insidious way at a microscopic scale.
The research uncovered that Bacterial Stators are made up of five identical MotA proteins. It also contains two copies of the same MotB proteins. These proteins work in unison to form an essential component of the Bacterial Flagellar Motor. This motor evolved about 3.5-4 billion years ago. This motor first developed from a much simpler system. It pumped protons across a membrane, and it was the culmination of incredibly elegant adaptations that had evolved over eons.
A Special Thanks to Dr. Caroline Puente-Lelievre from the School of Biological Sciences for her invaluable contributions to this research. She highlighted the amazing diversity of bacterial stators inside rotary bacterial ion transporters. UNSW Sydney Assistant Professor Matthew Baker was pivotal to uncovering the function of these proteins.
To conceptualize the evolution of Bacterial Stators, the research team analyzed more than 200 bacterial genomes. With state-of-the-art computational machinery at their disposal, they could build evolutionary trees to model how these proteins’ three-dimensional shapes had evolved. Furthermore, directed laboratory experimental investigations helped us to dive deeper into the functionality and evolutionary significance of the Bacterial Stators.
The name Flagellum, from the Latin for whip, perfectly suits the whip-like movements produced by these bacterial motors. This complex two-protein system primed the world for motility evolution. It further evolved a myriad of other functions, a testament to nature’s brilliance in devising useful tools for life’s needs.