The newly replicated chromosomes in the pre-divisional cell, therefore, differ in terms of transcriptional programming as well as with respect to their ability to initiate DNA replication. Early flagellar assembly events are required for the transcription of genes encoding structures that are assembled later in the flagellum. These same events are also required for normal cell division. The events of flagellar biosynthesis and release are developmental events that are tightly coupled to the cell cycle of Caulobacter crescentus , since the presence of a flagellum is the main distinguishing factor between the motile swarmer cell and the sessile stalked cell in the organism. In fact, flagellar biosynthesis constitutes the best understood event in the Caulobacter cell cycle, due mainly to the ease with which cells possessing mutations in the flagellum biosynthesis pathway can be isolated.
Flagella are hair-like projections from the surface of cells.
They are made up of microtubules and are motile, being designed to move the cell itself, depending upon the nature of external stimuli in the cell's immediate environment. Chromosomal Separation in Prokaryotes Cell division and the efficient segregation of DNA are among the most critical events in the cellular life cycle. Despite this, the mechanisms for performing these functions in bacteria are poorly understood. Research performed on Caulobacter , B. subtilis , and E. coli has led to the view that the molecular machinery involved in bacterial mitosis works in an organized and directional manner. DNA replication in bacterial cells is followed by the physical separation and subsequent partitioning of sister chromosomes to opposite poles of the cell undergoing division.