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Microbial Motility Lab
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A lab that studies the bacterial flagellar motor and behavioral aging in C. elegans.
AboutAbout the lab
Exploring flagellar rotation and neural aging
The lab studies the bacterial flagellum, the organ that drives bacterial motility, and behavioral aging in C. elegans.
The bacteria group studies, at the molecular level, how the motor converts ion flow into flagellar rotation and how flagella come to be built in a fixed number and position.
The C. elegans group studies the genetic mechanisms behind the changes in behavior that occur with age.
Key terms
- Flagellum
- A helical, filamentous organ of motility in bacteria. Rotated by a motor at its base, it generates the force for swimming
- Flagellar motor
- A structure at the base of the flagellum that generates rotational force from ion flow across the cell membrane
- C. elegans
- A small animal with a transparent body, short lifespan, and simple nervous system, used in research on aging and the nervous system
ResearchResearch themes
Using bacterial flagella and C. elegans neurons as model systems, the lab studies the mechanisms of motility and aging at the molecular level. It explores how ion flow across the biological membrane is converted into rotation, how the number and position of flagella are determined, and the genetic basis of age-related changes in behavior.
*Illustrative imageHow the Flagellar Motor Rotates
Bacteria swim by using ion flow as power to rotate their helical flagella. The lab engineers the E. coli motor into a type driven by a different ion, measures its rotation, and examines protein structures, aiming to understand at the molecular level how ion flow becomes rotational force.
*Illustrative imageControl of Flagellar Number and Position
Bacterial flagella are built not at random but in a fixed number and position. In Vibrio, the genes flhF and flhG are known to be involved, and the lab studies their function to elucidate how the number and position of flagella are determined.
*Illustrative imageMechanisms of Behavioral Aging in C. elegans
The lab hypothesizes that the decline of neural function with age is actively caused by genetic mechanisms. Using C. elegans, which have short lifespans and simple nervous systems, it studies mutants that do not show the age-related decline in behavior.
*Illustrative imageEffects of Diet on Behavioral Aging
The lab has found that the bacteria nematodes eat as food affect behavioral aging. Because C. elegans has a transparent body, neural activity can be measured in living animals as changes in calcium concentration using fluorescent proteins.
MembersFaculty
The Microbial Motility Lab consists of faculty, technical staff, doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students, research students, and NUPACE students.
- ProfessorSeiji Kojima
- Associate ProfessorKentaro Noma
VoicesStudent voices
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Microbiology techniques 1” Luis Fernando Flores LAB / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- How the Flagellar Motor Rotates: “Flagellar Motor Assembly” PKS615 / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Control of Flagellar Number and Position: “Vibrio diagram” Y tambe / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Mechanisms of Behavioral Aging in C. elegans: “Genetics Laboratory UMAR Puerto Escondido” Aldo Tadeo Suárez Guido / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Effects of Diet on Behavioral Aging: “Varbuss” Heiti Paves / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Cell Biology Lab): “Indian Muntjac fibroblast cells ( )” ZEISS Microscopy from Germany / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Multicellular Order Lab): “Plant Tissue Culture Lab - Atlanta Botanical Garden” Daderot / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Cell Spatiotemporal Control Lab): “Elodea cells under microscope” ~delta / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Biological Mechanisms Lab): “Petri Dish with HEK293 (NIH BioArt 653)” Courtesy of NIAID Ryan Kissinger / Public domain (cropped)
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