Cross-regulation of Pseudomonas motility systems: the intimate relationship between flagella, pili and virulence

Pseudomonas aeruginosa navigates using two distinct forms of motility, swimming and twitching. A polar flagellum and Type 4 pili power these movements, respectively, allowing P. aeruginosa to attach to and colonize surfaces. Single cell imaging and particle tracking algorithms have revealed a wide range of bacterial surface behaviors which are regulated by second messengers cyclic-di-GMP and cAMP; the production of these signals is, in turn, responsive to the engagement of motility organelles with a surface. Innate immune defense systems, long known to recognize structural components of flagella, appear to respond to motility itself. The association of motility with both upregulation of virulence and induction of host defense mechanisms underlies the complex contributions of flagella and pili to P. aeruginosa pathogenesis.