Jack Botting

Flagellar motility is a crucial virulence factor in many disease-causing bacteria. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of flagellar motility is therefore vital to combatting microbial pathogenesis. While the flagellar motors of model organisms E. coli and S. enterica have been well characterized, more complex motors in H. pylori, B. burgdorferi, and V. cholerae, possess accessory structures that help such bacteria navigate challenging environments. Using cryo-ET, protein structure prediction, and molecular modeling, we can piece together the complex networks of proteins that make bacterial motility possible.