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. 1995 Jul;177(14):3985–3991. doi: 10.1128/jb.177.14.3985-3991.1995

Role of methylation in aerotaxis in Bacillus subtilis.

L S Wong 1, M S Johnson 1, I B Zhulin 1, B L Taylor 1
PMCID: PMC177128  PMID: 7608071

Abstract

Taxis to oxygen (aerotaxis) in Bacillus subtilis was characterized in a capillary assay and in a temporal assay in which the concentration of oxygen in a flow chamber was changed abruptly. A strong aerophilic response was present, but there was no aerophobic response to high concentrations of oxygen. Adaptation to a step increase in oxygen concentration was impaired when B. subtilis cells were depleted of methionine to prevent methylation of the methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins. There was a transient increase in methanol release when wild-type B. subtilis, but not a cheR mutant that was deficient in methyltransferase activity, was stimulated by a step increase or a step decrease in oxygen concentration. The methanol released was quantitatively correlated with demethylation of methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins. This indicated that methylation is involved in aerotaxis in B. subtilis in contrast to aerotaxis in Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium, which is methylation independent.

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Selected References

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