Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1975 Nov;72(11):4640–4644. doi: 10.1073/pnas.72.11.4640

Role of methionine in bacterial chemotaxis: requirement for tumbling and involvement in information processing.

M S Springer, E N Kort, S H Larsen, G W Ordal, R W Reader, J Adler
PMCID: PMC388779  PMID: 1105586

Abstract

Chemotactic responses are mediated by modulation of the frequency of tumbling. Studies with methionine auxotrophs of wild-type Escherichia coli and four mutants which tumble continuously show that methionine or one of its metabolites is involved in the tumbling process. Following removal of methionine, the wild type and two mutants, after various periods of time, became unable to tumble. The presence of constant levels of chemical attractants considerably shortened these periods in the three strains and eliminated tumbling in another mutant. This effect of attractants considerably shortened these periods in the three strains and eliminated tumbling in another mutant. This effect of attractants implies that methionine or some derivative of methionine is also involved in transducing chemical stimuli to bacterial responses.

Full text

PDF
4640

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., Dahl M. M. A method for measuring the motility of bacteria and for comparing random and non-random motility. J Gen Microbiol. 1967 Feb;46(2):161–173. doi: 10.1099/00221287-46-2-161. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Adler J., Hazelbauer G. L., Dahl M. M. Chemotaxis toward sugars in Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1973 Sep;115(3):824–847. doi: 10.1128/jb.115.3.824-847.1973. [DOI] [PMC free article] [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. An S-adenosylmethionine requirement for chemotaxis in Escherichia coli. Can J Microbiol. 1972 Nov;18(11):1695–1701. doi: 10.1139/m72-263. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Armstrong J. B. Chemotaxis and methionine metabolism in Escherichia coli. Can J Microbiol. 1972 May;18(5):591–596. doi: 10.1139/m72-093. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Aswad D. W., Koshland D. E., Jr Evidence for an S-adenosylmethionine requirement in the chemotactic behavior of Salmonella typhimurium. J Mol Biol. 1975 Sep 15;97(2):207–223. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(75)80035-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Aswad D., Koshland D. E., Jr Role of methionine in bacterial chemotaxis. J Bacteriol. 1974 May;118(2):640–645. doi: 10.1128/jb.118.2.640-645.1974. [DOI] [PMC free article] [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. 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]
  11. 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]
  12. Larsen S. H., Adler J., Gargus J. J., Hogg R. W. Chemomechanical coupling without ATP: the source of energy for motility and chemotaxis in bacteria. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1974 Apr;71(4):1239–1243. doi: 10.1073/pnas.71.4.1239. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. 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]
  14. Mesibov R., Adler J. Chemotaxis toward amino acids in Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1972 Oct;112(1):315–326. doi: 10.1128/jb.112.1.315-326.1972. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Nath K., Koch A. L. Protein degradation in Escherichia coli. II. Strain differences in the degradation of protein and nucleic acid resulting from starvation. J Biol Chem. 1971 Nov 25;246(22):6956–6967. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. 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]
  17. Pine M. J. Regulation of intracellular proteolysis in Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1973 Jul;115(1):107–116. doi: 10.1128/jb.115.1.107-116.1973. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. 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]
  19. VOGEL H. J., BONNER D. M. Acetylornithinase of Escherichia coli: partial purification and some properties. J Biol Chem. 1956 Jan;218(1):97–106. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America are provided here courtesy of National Academy of Sciences

RESOURCES