Structural characterization of a pseudaminic acid-modified lateral flagellar filament from Vibrio alginolyticus.

Electron cryomicroscopy at 2.4 Å reveals that Vibrio alginolyticus lateral flagellar filaments are extensively modified with pseudaminic acid on five serines.

• Why it matters: Flagellin glycosylation is common, but its structural basis and how it supports lateral motility organelle assembly are unclear in many bacteria.
• What they did: The authors purified lateral flagellar filaments, solved their structure by electron cryomicroscopy at 2.4 Å, and used model building plus mass spectrometry to assign pseudaminic acid to Ser148, Ser173, Ser183, Ser189, and Ser197.
• The result: Deleting maf abolished lateral flagella formation and motility, and complementation restored both, linking Maf-dependent pseudaminic acid glycosylation to filament assembly in Vibrio alginolyticus.

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