Bacterial flagellum

Except of course for those things that don't have nervous systems. Which is most living things, really. And the 'electric pulses' are not the same as electrons within electric wires. What they actually are is ions being moved back and forth across membranes. That sort of thing is rather more widespread.DT

Hmmm, interesting. This reliable-looking site says:

quote:

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Flagella consist of a hollow, rigid cylinder composed of a protein called flagellin, which forms a filament anchored to the cell by a curved structure called the hook, which is attached to the basal body.

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This certainly makes it sound more like Crash is suggesting. This site, I thought, confirmed it:

quote:

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Flagella can be thought of as little semi-rigid whips that are free at one end and attached to a cell at the other. [...] The hook and basal body of the flagella attach it to the cell.

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... but goes on to say

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The flagellum is a rigid structure and rotates like a propeller. Rings in the basal body rotate relative to each other causing the flagella to turn.

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So now I'm even more confused. It's clear that it acts like a whip in its motion, but does it also rotate within its ‘socket’ too?DT