Bacteria come in all kinds of shapes. They can be round like a ball, shaped like a pill, curved like a banana or look like stars. And Helicobacter bacteria are very special: their cell bodies are helical like corkscrews. Thanks to this shape, they can better drill through thick and slimy liquids, like in the human body.
For a long time, bacteria were classified according to their shapes. With new technologies, we learned that the bacterial shapes help them survive in their environments and face harsh conditions. Spheres, rods, stars and screws: Learn about the different bacterial shapes.
Bacteria divide by measuring their middle and forming a ring. They then extend their cells while the ring tightens. Like this, two daughter cells grow out of one mother cell. However, the daughter cells do not always look the same…
Bacteria swim through liquids with their flagella. Some bacteria even have two flagella at opposite ends that help them to swim through mucus and slime. This movement helps bacteria to infect the human body. Now, researchers start to better understand how these flagella work together to move the bacterium forward.
