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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
. 1979 Dec;76(12):6309–6313. doi: 10.1073/pnas.76.12.6309

Attractants and repellents influence methylation and demethylation of methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins in an extract of Escherichia coli.

S J Kleene, A C Hobson, J Adler
PMCID: PMC411853  PMID: 392517

Abstract

During bacterial chemotaxis, attractants and repellents alter the methylation levels of the methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins (MCPs). These methylation levels represent a balance between two enzymatic processes: methylation and demethylation. In vivo experiments previously have shown that chemoeffectors influence the demethylation process; effects on the methylation system have not been reported. Here we show that in a cell-free extract of Escherichia coli both methylation and demethylation of the MCPs are affected by attractants and repellents. Attractants enhance methylation and inhibit demethylation. Repellents inhibit methylation and stimulate demethylation. The cell-free system provides an opportunity for further study of the mechanisms by which attractants and repellents influence the levels of methylation of the MCPs.

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Selected References

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

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