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Bacterial swimming speed and rotation rate of bundled flagella
- Source :
- FEMS microbiology letters. 199(1)
- Publication Year :
- 2001
-
Abstract
- Swimming speed (v) and flagellar-bundle rotation rate (f) of Salmonella typhimurium, which has peritrichous flagella, were simultaneously measured by laser dark-field microscopy (LDM). Clear periodic changes in the LDM signals from a rotating bundle indicated in-phase rotation of the flagella in the bundle. A roughly linear relation between v and f was observed, though the data points were widely distributed. The ratio of v to f (v-f ratio), which indicates the propulsive distance during one flagellar rotation, was 0.27 microm (11% of the flagellar pitch) on average. The experimental v-f ratio was twice as large as the calculated one on the assumption that a cell had a single flagellum. A flagellar bundle was considered to propel a cell more efficiently than a single flagellum.
Details
- ISSN :
- 03781097
- Volume :
- 199
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- FEMS microbiology letters
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....5b4191dafbb46b5bb0fda755d501a769