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Related Concept Videos

Flagella and Motility in Bacteria01:18

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Flagella are specialized, thread-like structures that extend from a bacteria's cell envelope. They play a crucial role in motility and chemotaxis. Their structural organization and functioning exemplify sophisticated biological engineering, enabling bacterial survival and adaptability in diverse environments.Structure of the FlagellumA bacterial flagellum consists of three key components: the filament, the hook, and basal body. The filament, a long, helical structure composed of repeating...
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Archaeal surface appendages are highly specialized structures essential for environmental adaptation, encompassing roles in adhesion, biofilm formation, and motility. Among these appendages, pili and archaella stand out for their distinct morphologies and functionalities, enabling archaea to thrive in diverse and often extreme environments.Pili: Adhesion and Biofilm FormationPili are filamentous structures assembled from pilin protein subunits, primarily contributing to adhesion and biofilm...
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Filopodia are thin, actin-rich cellular protrusions that play an important role in many fundamental cellular functions. They vary in their occurrence, length, and positioning in different cell types, suggesting their diverse roles.
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Bacterial cells were initially considered simple, randomly organized structures lacking a cytoskeleton. However, the discovery of cytoskeleton homologs in bacteria led to the change of this opinion. Bacterial cytoskeletal filaments regulate the cell shape, cell polarity, cell division, and partitioning of plasmids during cell division. It was later discovered that bacterial cytoskeletal proteins, mainly actin and tubulin homologs, are diverse compared to their eukaryotic counterparts. On the...
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Biophysical Characterization of Flagellar Motor Functions
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Building a flagellum in biological outer space.

Lewis D B Evans1, Colin Hughes1, Gillian M Fraser1

  • 1Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge, CB2 1QP, United Kingdom.

Microbial Cell (Graz, Austria)
|June 13, 2014
PubMed
Summary

Bacterial flagella, essential molecular machines, grow using a novel self-powered mechanism. Structural subunits link head-to-tail, pulling themselves to the flagellum tip for assembly outside the cell.

Keywords:
Type III exportbacterial flagellacell motilitychain mechanismrotary nanomachine

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Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Biophysics

Background:

  • Bacterial flagella are complex molecular machines crucial for motility.
  • Flagellar growth occurs at the distal tip, requiring subunit transport far from the cell.
  • The energy source for this distant assembly has been a long-standing mystery.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To elucidate the mechanism of flagellar assembly and growth.
  • To identify the energy source driving subunit transport during flagellar elongation.

Main Methods:

  • The study investigates the self-assembly dynamics of flagellar subunits.
  • It explores the physical principles governing subunit translocation through the flagellar filament.

Main Results:

  • A novel mechanism reveals that flagellar growth is powered by the subunits themselves.
  • Subunits link head-to-tail, forming a chain that is pulled through the flagellar channel to the tip.
  • This self-powered transit mechanism explains assembly at the distant growing tip.

Conclusions:

  • Bacterial flagellar assembly utilizes an intrinsic, self-powered mechanism for subunit transport.
  • This discovery resolves a key question regarding flagellar growth outside the cell.
  • The findings may offer insights into other self-assembling biological structures.