Reverse and flick: Hybrid locomotion in bacteria
Many bacteria are motile. They use one or more helical flagella as propellers, rotating them like the corkscrew on a wine bottle opener. Despite the limited morphological repertoire of the propulsive system, radically different movement strategies have evolved, likely reflecting the diversity of phy...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)
2013
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/77973 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3199-0508 |
| _version_ | 1811086301156343808 |
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| author | Stocker, Roman |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Stocker, Roman |
| author_sort | Stocker, Roman |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Many bacteria are motile. They use one or more helical flagella as propellers, rotating them like the corkscrew on a wine bottle opener. Despite the limited morphological repertoire of the propulsive system, radically different movement strategies have evolved, likely reflecting the diversity of physicochemical conditions among bacterial habitats. In PNAS, Xie et al. (1) report on a newly discovered mechanism for turning used by Vibrio alginolyticus, an inhabitant of the coastal ocean: These monotrichous (“single-haired”) bacteria change direction with a “flick” of their flagellum. Intriguingly, Xie et al. (1) show that less can be more when it comes to bacterial flagella: With its single flagellum, V. alginolyticus outperforms the multiflagellated Escherichia coli in climbing nutrient gradients (“chemotaxis”), suggesting that the flick is part of an advanced chemotaxis system. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T13:24:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/77973 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T13:24:00Z |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| publisher | National Academy of Sciences (U.S.) |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/779732022-10-01T15:00:30Z Reverse and flick: Hybrid locomotion in bacteria Stocker, Roman Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Stocker, Roman Many bacteria are motile. They use one or more helical flagella as propellers, rotating them like the corkscrew on a wine bottle opener. Despite the limited morphological repertoire of the propulsive system, radically different movement strategies have evolved, likely reflecting the diversity of physicochemical conditions among bacterial habitats. In PNAS, Xie et al. (1) report on a newly discovered mechanism for turning used by Vibrio alginolyticus, an inhabitant of the coastal ocean: These monotrichous (“single-haired”) bacteria change direction with a “flick” of their flagellum. Intriguingly, Xie et al. (1) show that less can be more when it comes to bacterial flagella: With its single flagellum, V. alginolyticus outperforms the multiflagellated Escherichia coli in climbing nutrient gradients (“chemotaxis”), suggesting that the flick is part of an advanced chemotaxis system. National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (1-R21-EB008844) National Science Foundation (U.S.) (OCE-0744641-CAREER) 2013-03-21T19:55:12Z 2013-03-21T19:55:12Z 2011-02 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0027-8424 1091-6490 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/77973 Stocker, R. “Reverse and Flick: Hybrid Locomotion in Bacteria.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108.7 (2011): 2635–2636. CrossRef. Web. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3199-0508 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1019199108 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf National Academy of Sciences (U.S.) PNAS |
| spellingShingle | Stocker, Roman Reverse and flick: Hybrid locomotion in bacteria |
| title | Reverse and flick: Hybrid locomotion in bacteria |
| title_full | Reverse and flick: Hybrid locomotion in bacteria |
| title_fullStr | Reverse and flick: Hybrid locomotion in bacteria |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reverse and flick: Hybrid locomotion in bacteria |
| title_short | Reverse and flick: Hybrid locomotion in bacteria |
| title_sort | reverse and flick hybrid locomotion in bacteria |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/77973 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3199-0508 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT stockerroman reverseandflickhybridlocomotioninbacteria |