Responses of Escherichia coli bacteria to two opposing chemoattractant gradients depend on the chemoreceptor ratio

• Verfasst von: Kalinin, Yevgeniy [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Neumann-Pfeifer, Silke [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Sourjik, Victor [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Wu, Mingming [VerfasserIn]
• Titel: Responses of Escherichia coli bacteria to two opposing chemoattractant gradients depend on the chemoreceptor ratio
• Verf.angabe: Yevgeniy Kalinin, Silke Neumann, Victor Sourjik, and Mingming Wu
• E-Jahr: 2010
• Jahr: 29 January 2010
• Umfang: 5 S.
• Fussnoten: Gesehen am 01.03.2023
• Titel Quelle: Enthalten in: Journal of bacteriology
• Ort Quelle: Washington, DC : Soc., 1916
• Jahr Quelle: 2010
• Band/Heft Quelle: 192(2010), 7, Seite 1796-1800
• ISSN Quelle: 1098-5530
• DOI: doi:10.1128/JB.01507-09
• Datenträger: Online-Ressource
• Sprache: eng
• K10plus-PPN: 1837789282

Abstract

Escherichia coli chemotaxis has long served as a simple model of environmental signal processing, and bacterial responses to single chemical gradients are relatively well understood. Less is known about the chemotactic behavior of E. coli in multiple chemical gradients. In their native environment, cells are often exposed to multiple chemical stimuli. Using a recently developed microfluidic chemotaxis device, we exposed E. coli cells to two opposing but equally potent gradients of major attractants, methyl-aspartate and serine. The responses of E. coli cells demonstrated that chemotactic decisions depended on the ratio of the respective receptor number of Tar/Tsr. In addition, the ratio of Tar to Tsr was found to vary with cells’ growth conditions, whereby it depended on the culture density but not on the growth duration. These results provide biological insights into the decision-making processes of chemotactic bacteria that are subjected to multiple chemical stimuli and demonstrate the importance of the cellular microenvironment in determining phenotypic behavior.