Question

Which of the following statements regarding flagella are true?

Select one or more:

a. Some microbes contain internal flagella

b. Some microbes contain external flagella

c. All flagella spin in a circular fashion

d. Some microbes contain perpendicular flagella

e. Bacterial flagella consist of multiple parts

Answer 1

The following statements are true about flagella:

b. Some microbes contain external flagella

Microbes generally contain flagella for the movement on the surface of the water. External components of the flagella are hook, filament and associated proteins. These parts are extracellular components of a flagella.

Reference:

Hosu, B., Nathan, V., & Berg, H. (2016). Internal and external components of the bacterial flagellar motor rotate as a unit. Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences, 113(17), 4783-4787. doi:10.1073/pnas.1511691113

d. Some microbes contain perpendicular flagella

Dinoflagellates are known to posses perpendicular flagella embedded in between the grooves of the cells plates.

Reference:

Groups of Protists | Boundless Biology. (2020). Courses.lumenlearning.com. Retrieved 7 May 2020, from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-biology/chapter/groups-of-protists/

e. Bacterial flagella consist of multiple parts

In various studies, it has been shown that the bacterial flagella is composed of mainly three parts, that is, filament, hook and basal body. The filament is attached to the cell surface by the help of a basal body.

References:

Structure and Function of Bacterial Cells. (2020). Textbookofbacteriology.net. Retrieved 7 May 2020, from http://textbookofbacteriology.net/structure_2.html

(2020). Microbeonline.com. Retrieved 7 May 2020, from https://microbeonline.com/bacterial-flagella-structure-importance-and-examples-of-flagellated-bacteria/