Open AccessChemotaxis as an Emergent Property of a Swarm
Author(s) -
Robert E. Taylor,
Roy D. Welch
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of bacteriology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.652
H-Index - 246
eISSN - 1067-8832
pISSN - 0021-9193
DOI - 10.1128/jb.00662-08
Subject(s) - myxococcus xanthus , chemotaxis , biology , motility , microbiology and biotechnology , transcription factor , signal transduction , enhancer , swarm behaviour , gene , biochemistry , ecology , receptor , mutant
We have characterized and quantified a form of bacterial chemotaxis that manifests only as an emergent property by measuring symmetry breaking in a swarm ofMyxococcus xanthus exposed to a two-dimensional nutrient gradient from within an agar substrate.M. xanthus chemotaxis requires cell-cell contact and coordinated motility, as individual motile cells exhibit only nonvectorial movement in the presence of a nutrient gradient. Genes that specifically affectM. xanthus chemotaxis include at least 10 of the 53 that express enhancer binding proteins of the NtrC-like class, an indication that this behavior is controlled through transcription, most likely by a complex signal transduction network.