Abstract
Many diverse bacteria move in the absence of any visible locomotory organelle by a mechanismtermed gliding. Gliding motility requires contact with a solid substrate and occurs in the directionparallel to the long axis of the bacterial cell. Recent research indicates that bacteria use at least twodifferent mechanisms to glide. One mechanism, termed social motility, is based on the extension and retractionof pili. The other mechanism, termed adventurous motility, involves the secretion of slime from a specializedorganelle called the junctional pore complex. This work discusses the possible role of the junctional porecomplex in gliding motility of cyanobacteria, myxobacteria, and the alphaproteobacterium Gluconacetobacter.
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© 2006 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Hoiczyk, E. (2006). The Junctional Pore Complex: Molecular Motor of Microbial Motility. In: Shively, J.M. (eds) Complex Intracellular Structures in Prokaryotes. Microbiology Monographs, vol 2. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/7171_032
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/7171_032
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