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Updated: Feb 23, 2026

Biophysical Characterization of Flagellar Motor Functions
Published on: January 18, 2017
Periplasmic flagella in Borrelia burgdoferi function to maintain cellular integrity upon external stress
Bharath Kumar1, Kelly Miller2, Nyles W Charon2,3
1The C. Eugene Bennett Department of Chemistry, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, United States of America.
Abstract:
Tapping mode atomic force microscopy (AFM) in solution was used to analyze the role of the internally located periplasmic flagella (PFs) of the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi in withstanding externally applied cellular stresses. By systematically imaging immobilized spirochetes with increasing tapping forces, we found that mutants that lack PFs are more readily compressed and damaged by the imaging process compared to wild-type cells. This finding suggest that the PFs, aside from being essential for motility and involved in cell shape, play a cytoskeletal role in dissipating energy and maintaining cellular integrity in the presence of external stress.
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