Figure 1

(a) Length distribution of flagella isolated from strain SJW1103. (b) Fluorescently labeled straight flagella isolated from strain SJW1665. (c) Mutant flagella SJW2869 characterized by its pitch ($P=1.1\mu \mathrm{m}$) and diameter ($D=0.160\mu \mathrm{m}$). The average contour length is $4.01\pm 2.5\mu \mathrm{m}$. (d) Wild-type flagella SJW1103 $P=2.4\mu \mathrm{m}$, $D=0.4\mu \mathrm{m}$). The average length is $3.6\pm 2.2\mu \mathrm{m}$. The scale bar indicates $5\mu \mathrm{m}$.Reuse & Permissions

Figure 2

(a) Coexistence between isotropic and conical phase in flagella SJW1103 at $20\mathrm{mg}/\mathrm{ml}$ imaged with a polarization microscope. The scale bar is $20\mu \mathrm{m}$. (b) A single phase imaged with a polarization microscope; the scale bar is $20\mu \mathrm{m}$. (c) Fluorescently labeled flagella dissolved in a conical phase of unlabeled flagella. The fluorescent image was overlaid above a polarization microscope image. The scale bar is $10\mu \mathrm{m}$. (d) Tentative phase diagram of flagella SJW1103. (e) Excluded volume between two helical rods out of phase and in phase with respect to each other.Reuse & Permissions

Figure 3

Polarized light images of liquid-crystalline flagella suspensions. (a) Nematic liquid crystal phase observed in straight flagella SJW1665. (b),(c) Conical phase formed from helical flagella SJW2869 and SJW1103, respectively. Bright and dark stripes indicate differing director orientations. The images in (b) and (c) exhibit one-dimensional periodicities of 1.1 and $2.4\mu \mathrm{m}$, respectively. The scale bar is $10\mu \mathrm{m}$.Reuse & Permissions

Figure 4

Analysis of a conical phase of flagella SJW1103 based on LC-PolScope images. (a),(b) The images show a map of the orientation of the slow axis of the birefringence and a retardance map, respectively. The scale bars are $5\mu \mathrm{m}$. (c) Line profile along the striped pattern of the orientation image (dashed line) and retardance image (solid line). When comparing the retardance to the orientation image, frequency doubling is observed. (d) Dashed lines represent the location along a helical director where the minimum and maximum of the orientation and retardance occurs. From this schematic, it is clear that retardance has twice the periodicity of orientation.Reuse & Permissions

Figure 5

Dynamics of a fluorescently labeled flagellum in a conical phase. The flagellum exhibits effective translation motion through rotation similar to the behavior of a nut on a bolt. (a) Mean square displacement of the phase angle of an individual flagellum. Inset: A time sequence of a diffusing flagellum taken over a period of several minutes. (b) Overlapped trajectories reconstituted of a flagellum diffusing in a conical phase.Reuse & Permissions