Self-electrophoresis is not the mechanism for motility in swimming cyanobacteria.
Swimming cyanobacteria do not have flagella. In principle, they could be propelled by streams of ions flowing from head to tail, i.e., by a self-electrophoretic mechanism. We have ruled out this possibility by showing that cells of a swimming Synechococcus species fail to drift in an external electric field.
Pitta
T P
TP
Rowland Institute for Science, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA.
Berg
H C
HC
D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000502:physiology*; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D004586:Electrophoresis; D007477:Ions; D018715:Microscopy, Video; D009068:Movement
D007477:Ions