Skip to main content
PMC 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
. 1978 Jun;75(6):2820–2824. doi: 10.1073/pnas.75.6.2820

Potentiation, desensitization, and inversion of response in bacterial sensing of chemical stimuli.

B A Rubik, D E Koshland Jr
PMCID: PMC392656  PMID: 351616

Abstract

Behavior patterns of chemotactic mutants of Salmonella typhimurium were compared to those of the wild type by using the quantitative tumble frequency assay. Some cheU mutants were completely inverted in their responses--e.g., attractants produce responses expected for repellents and repellents produce responses expected for attractants. Still others swam smoothly and did not respond to any stimuli. Mutants of other complementation groups were found to exhibit exact additivity or potentiation in response to multiple stimuli whereas the wild type showed desensitization. The results suggest that the cheU gene product acts as a switch at the interface between the sensing system and the motor response. The system is finely tuned so that changes in individual proteins can produce potentiation, desensitization, exact additivity, or inversion of responses.

Full text

PDF
2824

Images in this article

2822Image
on p.2822
2822Image
on p.2822
2822Image
on p.2822
2822Image
on p.2822

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. Annu Rev Biochem. 1975;44:341–356. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.44.070175.002013. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. 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]
  5. 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]
  6. 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]
  7. Berg H. C. Chemotaxis in bacteria. Annu Rev Biophys Bioeng. 1975;4(00):119–136. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bb.04.060175.001003. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. 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]
  9. Iino T. Genetics of structure and function of bacterial flagella. Annu Rev Genet. 1977;11:161–182. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ge.11.120177.001113. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Koshland D. E., Jr A response regulator model in a simple sensory system. Science. 1977 Jun 3;196(4294):1055–1063. doi: 10.1126/science.870969. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. 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]
  12. 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]
  13. Macnab R. M., Ornston M. K. Normal-to-curly flagellar transitions and their role in bacterial tumbling. Stabilization of an alternative quaternary structure by mechanical force. J Mol Biol. 1977 May 5;112(1):1–30. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(77)80153-8. [DOI] [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. Ordal G. W., Adler J. Properties of mutants in galactose taxis and transport. J Bacteriol. 1974 Feb;117(2):517–526. doi: 10.1128/jb.117.2.517-526.1974. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Parkinson J. S. Behavioral genetics in bacteria. Annu Rev Genet. 1977;11:397–414. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ge.11.120177.002145. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Silverman M., Simon M. Chemotaxis in Escherichia coli: methylation of che gene products. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Aug;74(8):3317–3321. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.8.3317. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. 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]
  19. 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]
  20. Silverman M., Simon M. Identification of polypeptides necessary for chemotaxis in Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1977 Jun;130(3):1317–1325. doi: 10.1128/jb.130.3.1317-1325.1977. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Springer M. S., Goy M. F., Adler J. Sensory transduction in Escherichia coli: two complementary pathways of information processing that involve methylated proteins. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Aug;74(8):3312–3316. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.8.3312. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. 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]
  23. Strange P. G., Koshland D. E., Jr Receptor interactions in a signalling system: competition between ribose receptor and galactose receptor in the chemotaxis response. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1976 Mar;73(3):762–766. doi: 10.1073/pnas.73.3.762. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. 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]
  25. 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]
  26. Warrick H. M., Taylor B. L., Koshland D. E., Jr Chemotactic mechanism of Salmonella typhimurium: preliminary mapping and characterization of mutants. J Bacteriol. 1977 Apr;130(1):223–231. doi: 10.1128/jb.130.1.223-231.1977. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Whitfield H. J., Jr, Martin R. G., Ames B. N. Classification of aminotransferase (C gene) mutants in the histidine operon. J Mol Biol. 1966 Nov 14;21(2):335–355. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(66)90103-3. [DOI] [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