Flagellin is the subunit protein which polymerizes to form the filaments of bacterial flagella (By similarity). The flagellum is required to cause a persistent disease in a murine model of infection. Expressed at the onset of the exponential phase (after 4, 8 and 12 hours of culture) but not at later time points. A fliC mutant is attenuated in a murine model of infection. As the infection progresses, the number of cfu per spleen from mice infected with the mutant is significantly lower than the number from mice infected with the wild-type. Belongs to the bacterial flagellin family. Despite the presence of a stop codon in position 243 in the fliF gene and in position 127 in the flhA gene, it has been shown that B.melitensis is able to express genes corresponding to the M ring, the hook and the filament of the flagellar apparatus in the early log phase of growth in 2YT broth. Under these conditions, a polar and sheathed flagellar structure is visible by transmission electron microscopy.