Skip to main content
Journal of Bacteriology logoLink to Journal of Bacteriology
. 1976 May;126(2):758–770. doi: 10.1128/jb.126.2.758-770.1976

cheA, cheB, and cheC genes of Escherichia coli and their role in chemotaxis.

J S Parkinson
PMCID: PMC233211  PMID: 770453

Abstract

Motile but generally nonchemotatic (che) mutants of Escherichia coli were isolated by a simple screening method. A total of 172 independent mutants were examined, and four genes were defined on the basis of mapping and complemenvestigated by determining their null phenotypes with nonsense or bacteriophage Mu-induced mutations. The cheA and cheB products were essential in producing changes of swimming direction and flagellar rotation. The checC product appeared to be an essential component of the flagellum; however, specific mutational alterations of this component allowed flagellar assembly but prevented directional changes in swimming. Since some cheB mutants changed directions incessantly, this gene product may also serve to control the direction of flagellar rotation in response to chemoreceptor signals. Thus most or all of the common elements in the signalling process were involved in the generation and regulation of changes in the direction of flagellar rotation.

Full text

PDF
758

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Adler J. A method for measuring chemotaxis and use of the method to determine optimum conditions for chemotaxis by Escherichia coli. J Gen Microbiol. 1973 Jan;74(1):77–91. doi: 10.1099/00221287-74-1-77. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Adler J. Chemoreceptors in bacteria. Science. 1969 Dec 26;166(3913):1588–1597. doi: 10.1126/science.166.3913.1588. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Adler J. Chemotaxis in bacteria. Science. 1966 Aug 12;153(3737):708–716. doi: 10.1126/science.153.3737.708. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Armstrong J. B., Adler J. Complementation of nonchemotactic mutants of Escherichia coli. Genetics. 1969 Jan;61(1):61–66. doi: 10.1093/genetics/61.1.61. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Armstrong J. B., Adler J., Dahl M. M. Nonchemotactic mutants of Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1967 Jan;93(1):390–398. doi: 10.1128/jb.93.1.390-398.1967. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Armstrong J. B., Adler J. Location of genes for motility and chemotaxis on the Escherichia coli genetic map. J Bacteriol. 1969 Jan;97(1):156–161. doi: 10.1128/jb.97.1.156-161.1969. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Aswad D., Koshland D. E., Jr Isolation, characterization and complementation of Salmonella typhimurium chemotaxis mutants. J Mol Biol. 1975 Sep 15;97(2):225–235. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(75)80036-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Berg H. C., Anderson R. A. Bacteria swim by rotating their flagellar filaments. Nature. 1973 Oct 19;245(5425):380–382. doi: 10.1038/245380a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Berg H. C., Brown D. A. Chemotaxis in Escherichia coli analysed by three-dimensional tracking. Nature. 1972 Oct 27;239(5374):500–504. doi: 10.1038/239500a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Berg H. C. Dynamic properties of bacterial flagellar motors. Nature. 1974 May 3;249(452):77–79. doi: 10.1038/249077a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Berg H. C., Tedesco P. M. Transient response to chemotactic stimuli in Escherichia coli. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1975 Aug;72(8):3235–3239. doi: 10.1073/pnas.72.8.3235. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Boram W., Abelson J. Bacteriophage Mu integration: on the mechanism of Mu-induced mutations. J Mol Biol. 1971 Nov 28;62(1):171–178. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(71)90137-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Brown D. A., Berg H. C. Temporal stimulation of chemotaxis in Escherichia coli. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1974 Apr;71(4):1388–1392. doi: 10.1073/pnas.71.4.1388. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Fraenkel D. G., Banerjee S. Deletion mapping of zwf, the gene for a constitutive enzyme, glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase in Escherichia coli. Genetics. 1972 Aug;71(4):481–489. doi: 10.1093/genetics/71.4.481. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Grant W. D., Sutherland I. W., Wilkinson J. F. Exopolysaccharide colanic acid and its occurrence in the Enterobacteriaceae. J Bacteriol. 1969 Dec;100(3):1187–1193. doi: 10.1128/jb.100.3.1187-1193.1969. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Kahn P. L. Isolation of high-frequency recombining strains from Escherichia coli containing the V colicinogenic factor. J Bacteriol. 1968 Jul;96(1):205–214. doi: 10.1128/jb.96.1.205-214.1968. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Kort E. N., Goy M. F., Larsen S. H., Adler J. Methylation of a membrane protein involved in bacterial chemotaxis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1975 Oct;72(10):3939–3943. doi: 10.1073/pnas.72.10.3939. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Larsen S. H., Reader R. W., Kort E. N., Tso W. W., Adler J. Change in direction of flagellar rotation is the basis of the chemotactic response in Escherichia coli. Nature. 1974 May 3;249(452):74–77. doi: 10.1038/249074a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Low B. Rapid mapping of conditional and auxotrophic mutations in Escherichia coli K-12. J Bacteriol. 1973 Feb;113(2):798–812. doi: 10.1128/jb.113.2.798-812.1973. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Macnab R. M., Koshland D. E., Jr The gradient-sensing mechanism in bacterial chemotaxis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1972 Sep;69(9):2509–2512. doi: 10.1073/pnas.69.9.2509. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Parkinson J. S. Data processing by the chemotaxis machinery of Escherichia coli. Nature. 1974 Nov 22;252(5481):317–319. doi: 10.1038/252317a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Russell R. L., Abelson J. N., Landy A., Gefter M. L., Brenner S., Smith J. D. Duplicate genes for tyrosine transfer RNA in Escherichia coli. J Mol Biol. 1970 Jan 14;47(1):1–13. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(70)90397-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Schade S. Z., Adler J., Ris H. How bacteriophage chi attacks motile bacteria. J Virol. 1967 Jun;1(3):599–609. doi: 10.1128/jvi.1.3.599-609.1967. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Silverman M., Simon M. Flagellar rotation and the mechanism of bacterial motility. Nature. 1974 May 3;249(452):73–74. doi: 10.1038/249073a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Silverman M., Simon M. Genetic analysis of bacteriophage Mu-induced flagellar mutants in Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1973 Oct;116(1):114–122. doi: 10.1128/jb.116.1.114-122.1973. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Silverman M., Simon M. Genetic analysis of flagellar mutants in Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1973 Jan;113(1):105–113. doi: 10.1128/jb.113.1.105-113.1973. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Soll L., Berg P. Recessive lethals: a new class of nonsense suppressors in Escherichia coli. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1969 Jun;63(2):392–399. doi: 10.1073/pnas.63.2.392. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Spudich J. L., Koshland D. E., Jr Quantitation of the sensory response in bacterial chemotaxis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1975 Feb;72(2):710–713. doi: 10.1073/pnas.72.2.710. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. TAYLOR A. L. BACTERIOPHAGE-INDUCED MUTATION IN ESCHERICHIA COLI. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1963 Dec;50:1043–1051. doi: 10.1073/pnas.50.6.1043. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Taylor A. L., Trotter C. D. Linkage map of Escherichia coli strain K-12. Bacteriol Rev. 1972 Dec;36(4):504–524. doi: 10.1128/br.36.4.504-524.1972. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Tsang N., Macnab R., Koshland D. E., Jr Common mechanism for repellents and attractants in bacterial chemotaxis. Science. 1973 Jul 6;181(4094):60–63. doi: 10.1126/science.181.4094.60. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Vary P. S., Stocker B. A. Nonsense motility mutants in Salmonella typhimurium. Genetics. 1973 Feb;73(2):229–245. doi: 10.1093/genetics/73.2.229. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Wu T. T. A model for three-point analysis of random general transduction. Genetics. 1966 Aug;54(2):405–410. doi: 10.1093/genetics/54.2.405. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Bacteriology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES