Spiroplasma swim by a processive change in body helicity
Spiroplasma swim by a processive change in body helicity
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DOI：
10.1016/j.cell.2005.07.004
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发表时间：
2005-09-23
期刊：
影响因子：
64.5
通讯作者：
Fletcher, DA
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Shaevitz, JW;Lee, JY;Fletcher, DA
与宏观生物相比，微观生物必须依靠非常不同的策略才能在液体中游动。迄今为止，人们对原核生物游泳最了解的方法是利用鞭毛的旋转。在这里，我们展示了螺旋体，一种感染植物和昆虫的微小螺旋细菌，使用了一种非常不同的方法。通过测量细胞在自由游动时的运动学，我们发现推进力是由扭结对沿着细胞体的长度传播产生的。身体螺旋度的不断变化产生了这些波，并使定向运动成为可能。
Microscopic organisms must rely on very different strategies than their macroscopic counterparts to swim through liquid. To date, the best understood method for prokaryotic swimming employs the rotation of flagella. Here, we show that Spiroplasma, tiny helical bacteria that infect plants and insects, use a very different approach. By measuring cell kinematics during free swimming, we find that propulsion is generated by the propagation of kink pairs down the length of the cell body. A processive change in the helicity of the body creates these waves and enables directional movement.