Bacterial Chemotaxis

Presented by:
IRAM ANWAR 0033
ESHA YASIN (0032)
Content
 Chemotaxis
 Chemotaxis types, Chemoattractants and Chemorepellents
 Bacterial Chemotaxis
 Bacterial Chemotaxis behavior
 Response and adaptation
 Signaling pathway
 Conclusion
 References
INTRODUCTION
 Chemotaxis is the movement of an organism/bacteria in response
to a chemical stimulus i.e., move away or towards substances that
are present in the environment through a non-random process. 
 This movement is often directed either
 Positive Chemotaxis - movement towards attractants
(nutrients) or
 Negative Chemotaxis - movement away from the repellents
(toxin)
 CHEMOTAXIS TYPES
1. Chemoattractants - Chemicals that attract
bacteria.
For example
 E.coli amino acids (serine and aspartic acid)
 sugars (maltose, ribose, galactose, glucose),
 dipeptides, pyrimidines and electron acceptors
(oxygen, nitrate, fumarate).
Conti..

2. Chemorepellents - Chemicals that drive

bacteria away.
For example
 E.coli amino acid (leucine)
 metal ion (Ni)
 pH
 potentially noxious chemicals (alcohols and fatty
acids)
Bacterial characteristics:

• Chemicals always diffuse from the high gradient to the low

gradient.

Bacteria move in the response of chemicals. 

1) When bacteria tumble, it moves away from the chemicals. 

2) When bacteria run, it moves towards the chemicals.

BEHAVIOR, RESPONSE AND ADAPTATION
SIGNALING PATHWAY

Presented by: ESHA YASIN (0032)

BEHAVIOR

E. coli, have several flagella per cell.

• Counter-clockwise rotation (single rotating bundle)
• Clockwise rotation
(bundle apart)
 Cont.
Run and Tumble motion:
The overall movement of a bacterium is the result of alternating tumble and
swim phases, called run-and-tumble motion.
• Swim/runs – the cell keeps a
rather constant direction which
produce counter clockwise rotation.
• Tumbles – the bacterium stops and
randomly changes direction which
produce clockwise rotation.
 RESPONSE AND ADAPTATION
• Addition of attractants to E. coli cells, tethered to glass by means of
antibody to flagella, causes counterclockwise rotation.
• Addition of repellents causes clockwise rotation of the cells.
• Mutants of E. coli that swim smoothly and never tumble always rotate
counterclockwise, while mutants that almost always tumble rotate mostly
clockwise.
SIGNALING PATHWAY
Conclusion
 Bacterial Chemotaxis is the biasing of movement towards environments that
contain higher concentrations of beneficial, or lower concentrations of toxic,
chemicals.
 Bacteria use Chemotaxis to migrate towards environments that are better for
growth.
 Chemoreceptor detect changes in attractant levels and signal through two-
component systems to control swimming direction.
 The way in which the receptors are coupled to the flagella is not known. The
coupling may involve changes in membrane potential. 
References

 https://www.ks.uiuc.edu/Research/chemotaxis/

 https://www.slideserve.com/keanu/bacterial-ch

 https://www.nature.com/articles/nrm1524

 https://askmicrobiology.com/chemotaxisin-bacteria/

 https://
www.biologydiscussion.com/bacteria/bacterial-flagella-definition-and-l
ocomotion-microbiology/64898