The bacterial flagellum is a motility structure and represents one of the most sophisticated nanomachines in the biosphere. Here, we review the current knowledge on the flagellum, its architecture with respect to differences between Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria and other species-specific variations (e.g. the flagellar filament protein, Flagellin). We further focus on the mechanism by which the two nucleotide-binding proteins FlhF and FlhG ensure the correct reproduction of flagella place and number (the flagellation pattern). We will finish the review with an overview of current biotechnological applications, and a perspective of how understanding flagella can contribute to developing modules for synthetic approaches.

细菌鞭毛是一种运动结构，代表生物圈中最复杂的纳米机器之一。在这里，我们将综述有关鞭毛的最新知识，其关于革兰氏阴性菌和革兰氏阳性菌之间的差异以及其他物种特异性变异（例如鞭毛丝蛋白，鞭毛蛋白）的结构。我们进一步关注两个核苷酸结合蛋白FlhF和FlhG确保鞭毛位置和数目（鞭毛模式）正确繁殖的机制。我们将以当前生物技术应用的概述以及对鞭毛的理解如何为合成方法模块的开发做出贡献的观点作为结束语。