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Behavior of Rhizobium meliloti in oxygen gradients
Author(s) -
Zhulin Igor B.,
Lois Augusto F.,
Taylor Barry L.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/0014-5793(95)00561-m
Subject(s) - rhizobium , oxygen , chemistry , oxygen metabolism , sinorhizobium meliloti , symbiosis , biophysics , biology , biochemistry , bacteria , genetics , organic chemistry , gene
Rhizobium meliloti cells responded to an abrupt change in oxygen concentration by changing the cell speed (chemokinesis), but they did not alter the frequency at which swimming cells stopped briefly (aerotaxis). Changes in cell speed upon stimulation with oxygen coincided with changes in membrane potential. The cells did not form an aerotactic band in a spatial gradient of oxygen as do the cells of other bacterial species. The fixL and fixJ genes which encode a heme‐containing protein kinase that senses oxygen and a response regulator, respectively, were not involved in the behavior of R. meliloti in oxygen gradients.