Movement

B. burgdorferi’s periplasmic flagella act as a motor.

Fig.14. Mechanism Behind
B. burgdorferi's Motion

With a “hook” that spins on its axis, the bacterium’s flagella rotate, creating a backward, “corkscrew” motion. This rotation of the flagella enables B. burgdorferi to propel itself and swim in both low and highly viscous fluids and materials.

The flagella are located in the periplasmic space: between the cytoplasmic membrane and the outer membrane. 

These two membranes allow the flagella to “drive the rest of the cell around the long axis” and to create a motion capable of penetrating complex tissues within and between different hosts.

They also offer the bacterium protection against its host’s immune system. 

The flagella allow it to outrun the host’s immune cells.

Mortility of B. burgdorferi is a very significant part of its success in invading other organisms.

 Fig.15. B. burgdorferi in Motion

From the tick gut, B. burgdorferi invades the tick’s dermis, which is a layer of skin between the epidermis (the outermost) layer and the hypodermis (lowermost) layer.

 From the dermis, B. burgdorferi disperses throughout the tick’s body to its internal organs and tissues, including myocardium (muscular tissues in the heart), Synovial fluid (found in humans’ joints), heart, and the neurological system.