Open AccessBacterial swimming speed and rotation rate of bundled flagella
Author(s) -
Magariyama Yukio,
Sugiyama Shigeru,
Kudo Seishi
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.2001.tb10662.x
Subject(s) - flagellum , rotation (mathematics) , bundle , physics , biophysics , biology , geometry , materials science , bacteria , mathematics , genetics , composite material
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 μm (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.