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Updated: Jul 21, 2026

Investigating Flagella-Driven Motility in Escherichia coli by Applying Three Established Techniques in a Series
Published on: May 10, 2020
Ability of paralyzed flagella mutants of Chlamydomonas to move
C K Omoto1, T Yagi, E Kurimoto
1Department of Genetics and Cell Biology, Washington State University, Pullman 99164-4234, USA.
Abstract:
Chlamydomonas mutants missing the central pair or radial spokes are paralyzed despite the fact that they have the full wild-type complement of functional dynein ATPases. We show here that these mutants can move under conditions of low ATP concentration, a combination of ATP and ADP, and a combination of ATP and ribose-modified ATP analogs. These conditions suggest an inhibitory role of ATP and that this inhibition can be relieved by ADP or analogs. The function of the central-pair/radial spoke complex may be to release this ATP inhibition in a controlled manner.
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