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Figure 3 | BMC Microbiology

Figure 3

From: The dynamic behavior of bacterial macrofibers growing with one end prevented from rotating: variation in shaft rotation along the fiber's length, and supercoil movement on a solid surface toward the constrained end

Figure 3

The rotation of plectoneme markers about the shaft of macrofibers 8 (filled symbols) and 9 (open symbols) during growth. The locations of the markers (distance from the tether in mm) were as follows: diamond symbols fiber 8 = 1, fiber 9 = 0.7; triangle symbols fiber 8 = 2.8, fiber 9 = 2.3; circle symbols fiber 8 = 6.1, fiber 9 = 4.1; square symbols fiber 8 = 6.9, fiber 9 = 6.1. The relative time shown correspond to real time as follows: for markers in fiber 8 relative time 0 for the marker at 1 mm corresponds to actual time 0, for the marker at 2.8 mm relative time 0 = actual time 9 min 48 sec, for the markers at 6.1 and 6.9 mm relative time 0 = actual time 13 min 11 sec. For markers in fiber 9 relative time 0 for the marker at 4.1 mm corresponds to actual time 0, for the marker at 6.1 mm relative time 0 = actual time 11 sec, for the markers at 0.7 and 2.3 mm relative 0 = actual time 37 sec. The actual times at which measurements began were dictated by the time when the plectoneme markers formed and became positioned so that their rotation about the fiber axis could be accurately assessed.

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BMC Microbiology

ISSN: 1471-2180

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