pilus

Examples of pilus in the following topics:

• Pili and Pilus Assembly

  • A pilus (Latin for "hair;" plural: pili) is a hairlike appendage found on the surface of many bacteria.
  • The terms pilus and fimbria (Latin for "thread" or "fiber," plural: fimbriae) can be used interchangeably, although some researchers reserve the term pilus for the appendage required for bacterial conjugation.
  • Perhaps the most well-studied is the F pilus of Escherichia coli, encoded by the F plasmid or fertility factor .
  • A pilus is typically 6 to 7 nm in diameter.
  • A fimbria is a short pilus that is used to attach the bacterium to a surface.

• Gammaproteobacteria

  • In order to get the disease cholera, the bacteria must be able to colonize in the small intestine and a critical factor necessary for this colonization is the toxin-co-regulated pilus(TCP). 0395 is a wild type strain, showing the normal bundling of toxin-co-regulated pilus(TCP).

• Prokaryotic Reproduction

  • In conjugation, DNA is transferred from one prokaryote to another by means of a pilus, which brings the organisms into contact with one another.
  • In (c) conjugation, DNA is transferred from one cell to another via a mating bridge that connects the two cells after the pilus draws the two bacteria close enough to form the bridge.

• RNA Bacteriophages

  • Φ6 typically attaches to the Type IV pilus of P. syringae with its attachment protein, P3.
  • It is thought that the cell then retracts its pilus, pulling the phage toward the bacterium.

• Agrobacterium and Crown Gall Disease

  • Typically bacteria transfer plasmids through conjugation: a donor bacteria creates a tube called a pilus that penetrates the cell wall of the recipient bacteria and the plasmid DNA passes through the tube.

• Introduction to Plasmids

  • Unlike viruses, they are naked DNA and do not encode genes necessary to encase the genetic material for transfer to a new host, though some classes of plasmids encode the sex pilus necessary for their own transfer.

• Horizontal Gene Transfer

  • Conjugation: the use a hollow tube called a pilus to transfer genes between organisms.