Rebuttal: Flagellar Hook Length Is Controlled by a Secreted Molecular Ruler

Abstract

New ideas keep coming to satisfy all data accumulated regarding hook length control (1). Let us look at some of them and see if they are well brushed up as concept or just whim (3, 4). (i) The molecular clock (8). Length (L) and time (T) are independent parameters in physics. However, in our case, hook length L (in nanometers) and time T (in seconds) are intricately related to each other by the equation L = v′T, where v is the growth rate of the hook (in nanometers per second). The rate is possibly time-dependent, as we have previously shown by a statistical method (6). Thus, the molecular clock is a tautology. Then why do we bother with time? Let us stick to length alone (1, 3).