Abstract
A method is described for visualizing unstained bacterial flagella by dark-field light microscopy. Since individual filaments can be seen, a genus such as Salmonella, which is peritrichously flagellated, can readily be distinguished from a polarly flagellated genus such as Pseudomonas. Polarly flagellated bacteria generally swim much faster than peritrichously flagellated bacteria, and turn by abrupt reversals. The differences in flagellation and motility provide diagnostic criteria that may be useful in clinical microbiology.
Full text
PDF
Images in this article
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Adler J. A method for measuring chemotaxis and use of the method to determine optimum conditions for chemotaxis by Escherichia coli. J Gen Microbiol. 1973 Jan;74(1):77–91. doi: 10.1099/00221287-74-1-77. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Berg H. C., Brown D. A. Chemotaxis in Escherichia coli analysed by three-dimensional tracking. Nature. 1972 Oct 27;239(5374):500–504. doi: 10.1038/239500a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Macnab R. M., Koshland D. E., Jr The gradient-sensing mechanism in bacterial chemotaxis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1972 Sep;69(9):2509–2512. doi: 10.1073/pnas.69.9.2509. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Macnab R., Koshland D. E., Jr Bacterial motility and chemotaxis: light-induced tumbling response and visualization of individual flagella. J Mol Biol. 1974 Apr 15;84(3):399–406. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(74)90448-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- STOCKER B. A., CAMPBELL J. C. The effect of non-lethal deflagellation on bacterial motility and observations on flagellar regeneration. J Gen Microbiol. 1959 Jun;20(3):670–685. doi: 10.1099/00221287-20-3-670. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Schneider W. R., Doetsch R. N. Effect of viscosity on bacterial motility. J Bacteriol. 1974 Feb;117(2):696–701. doi: 10.1128/jb.117.2.696-701.1974. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Taylor B. L., Koshland D. E., Jr Reversal of flagellar rotation in monotrichous and peritrichous bacteria: generation of changes in direction. J Bacteriol. 1974 Aug;119(2):640–642. doi: 10.1128/jb.119.2.640-642.1974. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- VOGEL H. J., BONNER D. M. Acetylornithinase of Escherichia coli: partial purification and some properties. J Biol Chem. 1956 Jan;218(1):97–106. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Vaituzis Z., Doetsch R. N. Motility tracks: technique for quantitative study of bacterial movement. Appl Microbiol. 1969 Apr;17(4):584–588. doi: 10.1128/am.17.4.584-588.1969. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]