Abstract
Mycoplasma, a group of parasitic bacteria, forms a membrane protrusion at a cell pole. They bind to solid surfaces such as animal cell and glass, and glide. The mycoplasma genomes do not have any genes involved in the bio-motility systems ever known, suggesting that they move with a mysterious mechanism. We have studied about the properties of motility, structures of machinery, and enzymatic reaction coupled to gliding, and suggested a putative molecular mechanism. “Many filamentous legs on the base of membrane protrusion repeat binding and release from sialic acid fixed on the solid surface and pull the cell body.”
