The kinky propulsion of Spiroplasma.

Wolgemuth, Charles W; Charon, Nyles W · Cell · 2005

review · Level V

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Abstract

Bacteria have evolved many different means of generating movement. In this issue of Cell, Shaevitz et al. (2005) describe the swimming movement of a helical bacterium called Spiroplasma. They discover that Spiroplasma propels itself by generating two temporally distinct kinks that travel the length of the bacterium. These results point to the existence of a contractile apparatus that drives cell movement.

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