Bacteria can walk on 'legs'

[n2doc]

Alan Boyle writes: Bacteria have legs? That suggestion seemed surprising to Gerard Wong, a bioengineering professor at the University of California at Los Angeles, when his students told him they were seeing some strange behavior in movies of the microbes.

"They said, 'You know, we noticed that some of the bacteria — in fact, a lot of them — popped a wheelie and stood up," he recalled. "And I said, 'What are you talking about?'"

But in a sense, it's true: The movies show that the Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria wiggle themselves up into a vertical position and move leglike projections known as Type IV pili to wander around a surface. Wong and his colleagues describe the phenomenon in this week's issue of the journal Science.

You'd think that if bacteria could walk, someone would have noticed it long ago. And it may well have been noticed. But as far as Wong knows, his research team's report is the first systematic set of observations of the behavior. He said that once word got out about the pili phenomenon — for example, at an American Physical Society session in March — he started hearing comments that other researchers were seeing the walking as well. And then came the evolution jokes. "In a way, it's kind of like 'bacteria erectus,'" Wong said. What's next? Opposable thumbs?

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http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/10/07/5250671-bacteria-can-walk-on-legs

[myrna minx]

1. I know this is fascinating, but I find this to be 'don't answer the phone' creepy.

:scared:

[TwilightGardener]

2. I recall pseudomonas aeruginosa from a medical microbiology lab

experiment we had to do back in college--known for being very "spready" and common on bathroom surfaces. I guess this is why--cool!

[Jim__]

3. A question on unipolar motility.

Wikipedia tells me that this type of bacteria has unipolar motility. I'm guessing that this means they move in a single direction - effectively they have a front end and a back end. Is that right? And, when they "walk", are they always "standing" on their back end? I googled for the answers but I didn't find them. Thanks.

[madmax]

4. I knew that - it's a virulent strain that can't be killed

It's called 'Cheney'.

[gtar100]

5. Yes, but can it dance. That is the more important question.

[agent46]

6. This must be another rerun n/t

A lot of that going around lately.