%0 Journal Article
%T FlhE functions as a chaperone to prevent formation of periplasmic flagella in Gram-negative bacteria.
%A Halte M
%A Andrianova EP
%A Goosmann C
%A Chevance FFV
%A Hughes KT
%A Zhulin IB
%A Erhardt M
%J Nat Commun
%V 15
%N 1
%D 2024 Jul 14
%M 39004688
%F 17.694
%R 10.1038/s41467-024-50278-0
%X The bacterial flagellum, which facilitates motility, is composed of ~20 structural proteins organized into a long extracellular filament connected to a cytoplasmic rotor-stator complex via a periplasmic rod. Flagellum assembly is regulated by multiple checkpoints that ensure an ordered gene expression pattern coupled to the assembly of the various building blocks. Here, we use epifluorescence, super-resolution, and transmission electron microscopy to show that the absence of a periplasmic protein (FlhE) prevents proper flagellar morphogenesis and results in the formation of periplasmic flagella in Salmonella enterica. The periplasmic flagella disrupt cell wall synthesis, leading to a loss of normal cell morphology resulting in cell lysis. We propose that FlhE functions as a periplasmic chaperone to control assembly of the periplasmic rod, thus preventing formation of periplasmic flagella.