Improvement in motion efficiency of the spirochete Brachyspira pilosicoli in viscous environments.

ABSTRACT: Spirochetes are unique among swimming bacteria in terms of their lack of external flagella. They actively move in viscous environments, and, surprisingly, the swimming speed of the spirochete Leptospira interrogans has been reported to increase with viscosity in methylcellulose solutions. Many researchers consider that the presence of a loose, quasi-rigid network formed by linear polymer molecules is related to this strange phenomenon. One of the authors has proposed a theory that expresses this idea mathematically and successfully explains the speed properties of an externally flagellated bacterium in viscous environments. This theory predicts that the ratio of swimming speed to wave frequency (v/f ratio, motion efficiency in a sense) increases with viscosity. In this study, we demonstrat

SUBMITTER: Nakamura S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1414552 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature