Coordination of flagella on filamentous cells of Escherichia coli.

نویسندگان

  • A Ishihara
  • J E Segall
  • S M Block
  • H C Berg
چکیده

Video techniques were used to study the coordination of different flagella on single filamentous cells of Escherichia coli. Filamentous, nonseptate cells were produced by introducing a cell division mutation into a strain that was polyhook but otherwise wild type for chemotaxis. Markers for its flagellar motors (ordinary polyhook cells that had been fixed with glutaraldehyde) were attached with antihook antibodies. The markers were driven alternately clockwise and counterclockwise, at angular velocities comparable to those observed when wild-type cells are tethered to glass. The directions of rotation of different markers on the same cell were not correlated; reversals of the flagellar motors occurred asynchronously. The bias of the motors (the fraction of time spent spinning counterclockwise) changed with time. Variations in bias were correlated, provided that the motors were within a few micrometers of one another. Thus, although the directions of rotation of flagellar motors are not controlled by a common intracellular signal, their biases are. This signal appears to have a limited range.

منابع مشابه

Motility and chemotaxis of filamentous cells of Escherichia coli.

Filamentous cells of Escherichia coli can be produced by treatment with the antibiotic cephalexin, which blocks cell division but allows cell growth. To explore the effect of cell size on chemotactic activity, we studied the motility and chemotaxis of filamentous cells. The filaments, up to 50 times the length of normal E. coli organisms, were motile and had flagella along their entire lengths....

متن کامل

Flagellar motility in bacteria structure and function of flagellar motor.

Bacterial flagella are filamentous organelles that drive cell locomotion. They thrust cells in liquids (swimming) or on surfaces (swarming) so that cells can move toward favorable environments. At the base of each flagellum, a reversible rotary motor, which is powered by the proton- or the sodium-motive force, is embedded in the cell envelope. The motor consists of two parts: the rotating part,...

متن کامل

Host protein binding and adhesive properties of H6 and H7 flagella of attaching and effacing Escherichia coli.

It had been suggested that the flagella of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) and enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) might contribute to host colonization. In this study, we set out to investigate the adhesive properties of H7 and H6 flagella. We studied the abilities of EHEC EDL933 (O157:H7) and EPEC E2348/69 (O127:H6) flagella to bind to bovine mucus, host proteins such as mucins, and ext...

متن کامل

Cell envelopes of chemotaxis mutants of Escherichia coli rotate their flagella counterclockwise.

Flagella rotated exclusively counterclockwise in Escherichia coli cell envelopes prepared from wild-type cells, whose flagella rotated both clockwise and counterclockwise, from mutants rotating their flagella counterclockwise only, and even from mutants rotating their flagella primarily clockwise. Some factor needed for clockwise flagellar rotation appeared to be missing or defective in the cel...

متن کامل

Molecular Study of Phase Variation of Type 1 Fimbriae in Uropathogenic Escherichia coli O44 Serotypes during Touching with Solid Surfaces

Background & Aims: Type 1 fimbriae is the most common adhesion factor in urine tract infection. In this Study, presence of virulence genes in isolated strains of uropathogenic E.Coli, O serotyping and molecular detection of phase variation of type 1 fimbriae were assessed during solid surfaces exposure. Methods: Isolated E.coli from urine samples of patients were serotyped by using serologic me...

متن کامل

ذخیره در منابع من


  با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید

متن کامل
عنوان ژورنال:
  • Journal of bacteriology

دوره 155 1  شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 1983