Programmed Flagellar Ejection in Caulobacter crescentus Leaves PL-subcomplexes

The bacterial flagellum consists of a long extracellular filament that is rotated by a motor embedded in the cell envelope. While flagellar assembly has been extensively studied, the disassembly process remains less well understood. In addition to the programmed flagellar ejection that occurs during the life cycle of Caulobacter crescentus, we and others have recently shown that many bacterial species lose their flagella under starvation conditions, leaving relic structures in the outer membrane. However, it remains unknown whether the programmed flagellar ejection of C. crescentus leaves similar relics or not. Here, we imaged the various stages of the C. crescentus life cycle using electron cryo-tomography (cryo-ET) and found that flagellar relic subcomplexes, akin to those produced in the starvation-induced process, remain as a result of flagellar ejection during cell development. This similarity suggests that the programmed flagellar ejection of C. crescentus might share a common evolutionary path with the more general, and likely more ancient (Kaplan et al., 2020), starvation-related flagellar loss.