Natures wonders: bacterial flagella (Introduction)

by David Turell , Thursday, December 18, 2014, 01:07 (3627 days ago) @ David Turell

Same basic plan but at least eleven sub-types are seen. More evidence for patterns at the basis of evolutionary variation:-"Now comes a surprise. One would expect that such a complex structure [the bacterial motor] be the product of an uncommon event in evolution, consequently, that it be alike in different bacterial species. Not so. A most exciting detailed analysis of eleven different species shows that although the basic plan is the same, these tiny machines vary considerably in detail. Their elements differ in curvature and in the positioning with regard to the axis. True, the bacteria species chosen included an assortment of their flagellar arrangement, the flagella being polar in some, all over the surface (peritrichous) in others, and in yet others encased in the periplasm [the space between the inner and outer membranes]. One can well imagine that such different arrangements might require specially adapted machinery. But this finding does reveal a great degree of plasticity in the way flagellar motors are made. Isn't this amazing?"-http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/artful-amoeba/2014/12/16/bacterial-motors-come-in-a-dizzying-array-of-models/-How did a series of mutations create such specified complexity? Not by Darwin's thoughts.