Flagellar Pattern and Growth of Bacillus spp

SUMMARY: Observations by electron microscopy and by light microscopy of material stained to demonstrate flagella and cell walls, simultaneously, showed that in non-filamentous Bacillus spp. the flagella of growing bacilli were usually fully developed towards one pole, and developed on the other pole as the process of fission advanced. This is similar to the condition in other types of bacteria, previously described, and is in accordance with the theory that bacterial reproduction is not by simple fission, but by production of a bud from a mother cell.