Microscopic 'clutch' puts flagellum in neutral
Thursday, June 19, 2008 - 20:14
in Biology & Nature
Scientists have learned a tiny molecular clutch disengages the flagellum's tail from the engine that powers its rotation. To see the full image, click the link below. A tiny but powerful engine that propels the bacterium Bacillus subtilis through liquids is disengaged from the corkscrew-like flagellum by a protein clutch, Indiana University Bloomington and Harvard University scientists have learned. Their report appears in this week's Science.