Bacterial gliding

Bacterial gliding is a process whereby a bacteriumcan move under its own power. This process does not involve the use of flagella, which is a more common means of motilityin bacteria. For many bacteria, the mechanism of gliding is unknown or only partially known, and it seems likely that in fact different bacteria use distinct mechanisms to achieve what is currently referred to as gliding. Gliding is prominent in cyanobacteria, myxobacteriaand the cytophaga-flavobacteria.

References

• A review article on this phenomenon. Mark. J. McBride (2001) "BACTERIAL GLIDING MOTILITY: Multiple Mechanisms for Cell Movement over Surfaces", Annual Review of Microbiology, 55: 49-75. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11544349&dopt=Abstract

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It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacterial+gliding Wikipedia article Bacterial gliding.