1964 Volume 39 Issue 5 Pages 313-335
1. In acid solution below pH 3.5, a Salmonella flagellum dissociates into homogeneous protein monomers called 'flagellin'. Molecular weight of a flagellin particle, estimated from its sedimentation coefficient is about 37, 000. A flagellin is composed of 15 to 17 kinds of amino acids, 272 in number. Its amino acid composition is characterized by abundance of aspartic acid and alanine and absence of tryptophan. Relative amount of each component amino acid in a flagellin differs among different Salmonella strains.