As an important protein structure on the surface of bacteria, type Ⅳ pili (TFP) is the sensing and moving organ of bacteria. It plays a variety of roles in bacterial physiology, cell adhesion, host cell invasion, DNA uptake, protein secretion, biofilm formation, cell movement and electron transmission. With the rapid development of research methods, technical equipment and pili visualization tools, increasing number of studies have revealed various functions of pili in cellular activities, which greatly facilitated the microbial single cell research. This review focuses on the pili visualization method and its application in the functional research of TFP, providing ideas for the research and application of TFP in biology, medicine and ecology.
Keywords: function; type Ⅳ pili; visualization.