title: Microbiology. Action at a distance--bacterial flagellar assembly.
abstract: The rotating motion of a helical flagellum enables a bacterium to swim toward positive stimuli and away from danger. But how is the flagellum, composed of many different proteins, assembled? In a Perspective, Macnab explains how subunits of the protein flagellin flow down a channel inside the flagellum and are then added to its tip through the action of a rotating pentameric cap complex (Yonekura et al.).
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA. robert.macnab@yale.edu
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Macnab
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D020285:Cryoelectron Microscopy; D004058:Diffusion; D005407:Flagella / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005408:Flagellin / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017510:Protein Folding; D020836:Protein Structure, Quaternary; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D005408:Flagellin; C076733:FlaD protein, Bacteria