Question

What part of the bacterial cell helps it stick to surfaces?

Answer 1

Hint: The minute or fine thread-like locomotory structure of bacteria which present on the surface of the bacterial cell helps the bacteria to stick on the surface or substratum. This structure also helps in conjunction by forming a conjunction tube or sex pili.

Complete answer:
The flagella of bacteria are fine thread-like appendages that appear from the protoplasmic part and it is divided into basal body, hook and filament. The force for the movement of flagellum appears at the base and rotates into a twisted form and also helps in the attachment on the surface. The pili and fimbriae are minute hair-like outgrowth made up of protoplasm and present them all over the surface of the bacterial cell helps in the attachment on the surface and also on the formation of conjugation tube or bridge which act as sex pili.

Additional Information:
In bacteria, the sex pili are present on male or donor cells on its plasmid and the female lack this structure. The attachment between male and female cells takes place with the help of pili and this pilus grows in size by forming a conjugation tube and the transfer of plasmid takes place through this conjugation tube and this process is called sexduction.

Note:
In the case of conjugation if an incomplete zygote gets formed then this type of zygote is known as merozygote and partial zygote. In the case of pathogenic bacteria, resistance is formed to the antibiotics and this possesses a major problem in clinical bacteriology due to the rapid evolution of resistance in pathogenic bacteria.