Flagella

Most mobile bacteria possess one or more fine thread like appendages called flagella (sing.
Flagellum).
The electron microscopic studies have shown that the bacterial flagellum is composed of three
parts-filament, hook and basal body.

Filament.
It is the longest and the most obvious portion of the flagellum.
It extends from the cell surface to the top.
The filarment measures about 20 nm in diameter and 1-70nm in length.
It is a hollow rigid cylindrical structure made up of protein called flagellin.
The protein molecules are arranged in a spiral manner in the filament.
The filament is inserted into a curved tubular hook which is enchored to the cell by basal body.
Hook.
It is a curved and tubular structure.
It is quite different from the filament.
It is made up of different protein subunits.
Basal Body.

It is the most complex part of the flagellum.

In Gram-negative bacteria, consists of four rings, connected to a central rod.
The rings are named as L, P, S and M rings.
The L and P rings are the outer ring and are connected to the lipopolysaccharide and the
peptidoglycan layers, respectively.
The S and M rings are inner rings.
The S ring lies in the periplasmic space or perhaps connected with the peptidoglycan layer
whereas M ring is associated with the plasmalemma.
The Gram-positive cells have only two basal body rings.
The outer ring is connected to peptidoglycan membrane, while the inner ring is connected to
the plasma membrane.
The filament hook and basal body are arranged in such a manner that the structure allows the
flagellum to rotate rather than undulating back and forth like a whip.
The flagellum rotates, being driven by a rotary motor in its basal body.
As the flagellum rotates, it spins the body in the opposite direction and pushes the bacterium in
forward direction.
The flagella are locomotory organs in motile bacteria.
However, some other less common types of motility are also shown by some prokaryotes.

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For instance
(a)gliding movement by some cyanobacteria
(b) spirochaete movement by spirochaetes. They have helical cells with axil filaments like
flagella.

Pili, Fimbriae and Spinae

These terms are used interchangeably to indicate any bacterial surface appendage not involved
with motality.
The pili (Sing-pilus) are elongated, tubular structures made up ofa special protein called pilin.
There are 1-4 pili per cell.
True pili have been observed only in Gram-negative bacteria.
In these bacteria, the pili are involved in mating process.
Formation of pili is genetically controlled and is specific for a cell type as conjugation takes place
between compatible bacterial cells.
During conjugation one of the pili of one cell(the donor cell) attaches to another cell (the
recipient cell) and forms a conjugation tube or bridge.
This results in partial transfer of DNA from the donor cell to the recipient cell.

Fimbriae

The fimbriae are small bristle like fibres coming out of the cell.
These appear to be slender tubes composed of helically arranged protein subunits.
There are 300-400 fimbriae per cell.
Some type of fimbriae help bacteria to attach to solid surfaces such as rocks in streams and host
tissues.
They are also responsible for mutual clinging of cells forming a thin film on the liquid as well as
other thick aggregates.
Spinae

The spinae are tubular rigid appendages made up of special protein called spinin.
They are believed to help adjust cells to some environmental conditions such as salinity, pH,
temperature etc.