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Evidence for an Empty Core in a Bacterial Flagellum

Abstract

BACTERIAL flagella have three parts; a basal structure which is attached to the plasma membrane, a hook-like structure and a long filament which is outside the cell envelope. Flagellar filaments have been extensively studied1 and have been shown to be composed of an array of flagellin subunits. Various models have been proposed for the arrangement of the subunits in the flagellum, a common feature of which is a helical array with a hollow central core. Evidence for such a core has only rarely been obtained in electron micrographs of negatively–stained flagella when the flagella are still attached to the bacterium2, although in the proposed models the core is sufficiently large to allow easy penetration of negative-staining solutions.

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References

  1. Kerridge, D., First John Innes Symp., Norwich 1972 (North-Holland Publishing Co., Amsterdam) (in the press).

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SLEYTR, U., GLAUERT, A. Evidence for an Empty Core in a Bacterial Flagellum. Nature 241, 542–543 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1038/241542a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/241542a0

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