

Difference between Prokaryotic flagella and Eukaryotic flagella

Bacterial Flagella
Fig 1: Bacterial Flagella
The structure of a typical flagellum is shown in Fig 1. A protein filament, composed of the protein flagellin, is attached to a protein shaft that passes through a sleeve in the outer membrane and through a hole in the peptidoglycan layer to rings of protein anchored in the cell wall and plasma membrane, like rings of ball bearings. The shaft rotates when the inner protein ring attached to the shaft turns with respect to the outer ring fixed to the cell wall. The inner ring is an H+ ion channel, a proton pump that uses the passage into the cell to power the movement of the inner ring past the outer one.

Gram positive and Gram negative Flagella
Fig 2: Gram positive and Gram negative Flagella
Difference betweenProkaryotic flagella and Eukaryotic flagella 

Bacterial flagella 
(Prokaryotic Flagella)
Eukaryotic flagella
Smaller and simple structure
Larger and complex structure
Made up of protein flagellin (53KDa subunit).
Tubulin (9+2 microtubule arrangement)
Rotatory movement.
Bending movement.
Proton driven.
ATP driven.


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