Positioning the flagellum at the center of a dividing cell to combine bacterial division with magnetic polarity.

ABSTRACT:

Unlabelled

Faithful replication of all structural features is a sine qua non condition for the success of bacterial reproduction by binary fission. For some species, a key challenge is to replicate and organize structures with multiple polarities. Polarly flagellated magnetotactic bacteria are the prime example of organisms dealing with such a dichotomy; they have the challenge of bequeathing two types of polarities to their daughter cells: magnetic and flagellar polarities. Indeed, these microorganisms align and move in the Earth's magnetic field using an intracellular chain of nano-magnets that imparts a magnetic dipole to the cell. The paradox is that, after division occurs in cells, if the new flagellum is positioned opposite to the old pole devoid of a flagellum during cell di

SUBMITTER: Lefevre CT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4358019 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature