细菌鞭毛电机旋转切换的结构基础

The ciliary structures were first seen in 1647 by Antonie Leeuwenhoek while observing the protozoans. In lower organisms, these appendages are responsible for cell movement, while in higher organisms, these appendages help in the movement of the extracellular fluids within the body cavities.
The cilia are made up of microtubules in a 9+2 arrangement, with nine microtubule doublet ring bundles, surrounding a pair of central singlet microtubule bundles. The doublet microtubule bundles are...

Microtubules are thick hollow cylindrical proteins that help form the cytoskeleton. Microtubules have varied roles in the cell. These filaments help form cellular appendages like cilia and flagella, which are responsible for locomotion. The cilia arise from basal bodies, separated from the main body by a membrane-like structure forming the transition zone. This zone is the gate for the entry of lipids and proteins, creating a unique composition of lipids and proteins in the ciliary membrane and...

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...

During mitosis, chromosome movements occur through the interplay of multiple piconewton level forces. In prometaphase, these forces help in chromosome assembly or congression at the equatorial plane, eventually leading to their alignment at the metaphase plate. The forces acting on the chromosomes are space and time-dependent; therefore, they vary with the position of the chromosomes as the cell progresses through mitosis. 
Microtubules and motor proteins exert two types of forces on...

Eukaryotic cells have different motor proteins for transporting various cargo within the cell. These motor proteins differ based on the filament they associate with, the direction they move within the cell, and the type of cargo they transport. Motor proteins that associate with microtubules are known as microtubule-associated motor proteins. There are two families of microtubule-associated motor proteins —Kinesins and Dyneins. Both these proteins assist in the transport of cellular...

Intracellular bacteria and viruses often comprise a group of highly infectious pathogens that can cause several diseases. Bacterial pathogens include those belonging to the genus Rickettsia responsible for conditions such as rocky mountain spotted fever and the Mediterranean spotted fever; Chlamydia, a genus responsible for a sexually transmitted disease; Coxiella burnetii, an agent responsible for Q fever. Viral pathogens include vaccinia—a poxvirus, and herpes simplex virus—a...