Polar flagellar wrapping and lateral flagella jointly contribute to Shewanella putrefaciens environmental spreading.

Flagella enable bacteria to actively spread within the environment. A number of species possess two separate flagellar systems, where in most cases a primary polar flagellar system is supported by distinct secondary lateral flagella under appropriate conditions. Using functional fluorescence tagging on one of these species, Shewanella putrefaciens, as a model system, we explored how two different flagellar systems can exhibit efficient joint function.