Molecular analysis of archaeal flagellins: similarity to the type IV pilin – transport superfamily widespread in bacteria

Abstract

Ultrastructural, biochemical and genetic evidence has shown that the flagella and flagellin proteins from members of the archaea are distinct from their bacterial counterparts. The most important evidence is the sequence dissimilarity between archaeal and bacterial flagellins. We report here similarity between archaeal flagellins and members of the bacterial type IV pilin – transport superfamily. In addition to sequence similarity, the archaeal flagellins and the type IV pilin – transport superfamily share an unusual signal sequence cleavage site and may have functional parallels. This relationship has important implications for the assembly and biogenesis of archaeal flagella.Key words: flagellin, type IV pilin, homology, general secretion proteins, archaea.