And so, #14DaysofMicrobiologyPoems continues.

I reached out to the science Twitterverse earlier this month in search of 14 microbes worthy of poems.

Here is Poem Two, requested by @SandraMicrogirl.

 

 

 

Bacillus subtilis: Gram-positive flagella building

Like many bacteria,
Bacillus subtilis builds flagella.
Put B. subtilis under the microscope,
And you might see about 20 flagella per cell,
Distributed non-randomly all over the cell surface.
Peritrichous, as they call it.

Extending from the cell,
These “tails” rotate,
Helping cells swim and swarm.

Creating these flagella is no simple task.
Dozens of genes make dozens of proteins,
Which needs to find its way out of the cell.

Attaching to the cell membrane,
Burrowing through the cell membrane,
And extending long past the cell’s surface.
Step-by-step,
And in an organized manner.

E. coli and Salmonella get all the attention
When it comes to flagella building.
To get outside, the flagellum must build itself as it passes through the inner cell membrane.
The structure grows through the periplasm, the space between the membranes,
And finally, burrows through the outer membrane,
Before it can extend long outside of the cell.

But B. subtilis has unique things to offer.
For unlike the Gram negatives that E. coli and Salmonella are,
B. subtilis is Gram positive.
After growing through the inner cell membrane,
The flagellum must traverse a thick mesh of sugars and amino acids,
Before it breaks through the cell surface.

It’s a highly choreographed process,
Calculated and intricate.
Assembling the flagellum is no easy feat.

Further reading:

The structure and regulation of flagella in Bacillus subtilis. Annual Review of Genetics. 2014.