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Updated: May 27, 2026

Investigating Flagella-Driven Motility in Escherichia coli by Applying Three Established Techniques in a Series
Published on: May 10, 2020
Swarming motility and the control of master regulators of flagellar biosynthesis
Joyce E Patrick1, Daniel B Kearns
1Indiana University, Department of Biology, 1001 East Third Street, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
Abstract:
Swarming motility is the movement of bacteria over a solid surface powered by rotating flagella. The expression of flagellar biosynthesis genes is governed by species-specific master regulator transcription factors. Mutations that reduce or enhance master regulator activity have a commensurate effect on swarming motility. Here we review what is known about the proteins that modulate swarming motility and appear to act upstream of the master flagellar regulators in diverse swarming bacteria. We hypothesize that environmental control of the master regulators is important to the swarming phenotype perhaps at the level of controlling flagellar number.
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