Eine Flagelle für alle Fälle

Flagella-mediated motility, where propulsion is mediated by a rotating helical filament, is a very widespread and effective means of locomotion for numerous bacteria. Almost half of all species assemble their filament from more than one distinct building block, the flagellin. Here we show how bacteria may use different flagellins to build a filament best suited for different environments and that polarly flagellated bacteria employ a novel way of flagella-mediated motility.