Chemoreceptors and Flagellar Motors Are Subterminally Located in Close Proximity at the Two Cell Poles in Spirochetes

Abstract

Green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusions, immunofluorescence microscopy, and cryo-electron tomography revealed that the chemoreceptors of the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi form long, thin arrays near both cell poles. These arrays are in close proximity to the flagellar motors. This information provides a basis for further understanding motility, chemotaxis, and protein localization in spirochetes.