Movemement

 Bacteria move with hair-like extensions known as flagella, which are longer than cilia but fewer in number.  Flagella in prokaryotes are much thinner than in eukaryotes and are attached to the cell surface instead of the cytoplasm.  They can be found at either the front of back of the bacterium, both ends, or sometimes all over its surface.  Flagella sweep in a propeller-like motion to help the bacteria move. Bacteria may also move by secreting slime, and glide along surfaces. Yet other bacteria move by axial filaments, (bundles of fibrils that spiral around the bacterium, just under the outer cell wall).  The axial filaments cause the cell to rotate and move like a corkscrew. Some reasons for the bacteria’s movement are to move towards nutrients, away from toxic chemicals, or in the case of photosynthetic bacteria, towards sunlight.