Speculations on the growth strategy of prosthecate bacteria.
Appendaged bacteria with stalks that are extensions of the cell wall have had to solve the problems of growing the stalk as a tube of constant diameter and of partitioning their chromosomes into the asymmetric daughter cells. Although no experimental proof is given, it is suggested that both processes depend on the attachment of the chromosome origin and terminus to the wall at special terminal sites that contain the basal body (motor assembly) for flagellar motion.
D001419:Bacteria / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development*; D002453:Cell Cycle; D002455:Cell Division; D008954:Models, Biological