You Are Studying Swimming Motility in a Pathogenic Bacillus

Essay

You are studying swimming motility in a pathogenic bacillus. You create mutations in random genes and then test which mutations effect swimming motility by looking at the mutant cells under the microscope. One of the mutant bacteria cannot swim anymore, but still rotates around in one spot when you watch them. Using electron microscopy you discover that some parts of the flagella are still present in the cell wall, but no long flagella are visible. Which gene do you think is mutated (i.e., missing) and which motility-related parts are still present in this mutant?