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Journal of Bacteriology, July 2005, p. 5040-5043, Vol. 187, No. 14
0021-9193/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.187.14.5040-5043.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Photoresponsive Flagellum-Independent Motility of the Purple Phototrophic Bacterium Rhodobacter capsulatus

Kristopher J. Shelswell, Terumi A. Taylor, and J. Thomas Beatty*

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of British Columbia, 300-6174 University Blvd., Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6T 1Z3

Received 26 February 2005/ Accepted 8 April 2005

We report the discovery of photoresponsive, flagellum-independent motility of the {alpha}-proteobacterium Rhodobacter capsulatus, a nonsulfur purple phototrophic bacterium. This motility takes place in the 1.5% agar-glass interface of petri plates but not in soft agar, and cells move toward a light source. The appearances of motility assay plates inoculated with wild-type or flagellum-deficient mutants indicate differential contributions from flagellar and flagellum-independent mechanisms. Electron microscopy confirmed the absence of flagella in flagellar mutants and revealed the presence of pilus-like structures at one pole of wild-type and mutant cells. We suggest that R. capsulatus utilizes a flagellum-independent, photoresponsive mechanism that resembles twitching motility to move in a line away from the point of inoculation toward a light source.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of British Columbia, 300-6174 University Blvd., Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6T 1Z3. Phone: (604) 822-6896. Fax: (604) 822-6041. E-mail: jbeatty{at}interchange.ubc.ca.

Journal of Bacteriology, July 2005, p. 5040-5043, Vol. 187, No. 14
0021-9193/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.187.14.5040-5043.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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