When such preparations are dried, the wavy threads can be stained with so-called flagellar stains, and hitherto they have been regarded as ‘‘flagella or motor-organs. Motility of bacteria is ...

However, biological motors have existed for millions of years in microorganisms. Among these, many bacterial species have tail-like structures—called flagella—that spin around to propel themselves in ...

Their study, published in Microbiological Research, reveals that bacteria can evolve by losing their flagella, the structures responsible for movement. The study was led by Prof. Wang Junfeng from ...

Early on in the research, the scientists discovered that it was the bacterial flagella—part of the cell that aids in movement—that enables the bacteria to invade cancer cells. So they ...