Variation in shape and arrangement of bacterial flagella.

Few studies have been reported in the literature on variation in shape and arrangement of the flagella on bacteria. Leifson (1951) reported a shape variation of the flagella of Salmonella wichita. The variant showed twice the humber of curves per unit length compared to the parent strain. In the same publication Leifson also reported a monotrichous organism which produced filamentous variants showing lateral flagella. The lateral flagella were interpreted to be essentially polar. Gray and Thornton (1928) described two organisms which they placed in a new genus Mycoplana. The one organism was described as having "polar, peritrichous" and the other as having "polar or peritrichous" flagella. Unfortunately, their illustrations are only drawings, and the flagellation shown is difficult or impossible to evaluate.