Question

Explain/Breakdown the Chemotaxis response mechanism and their role in flagella movement and regulation. Bacterial Motility(Motor) Kit

Please provide an in depth answer in its simplest form for easy understanding. Thank you

Answer 1

Bacteria can move by rotating their flagella. This movement is often directed towards favourable chemicals (chemoattractants) or away from unfavourable chemicals (chemorepellents), a process termed chemotaxis. This modulation of swimming direction is the outcome of controlled changes in the direction of flagellar rotation. Therefore, mechanistically, the essence of bacterial chemotaxis is to control the direction of flagellar rotation. This control is done by a sophisticated signal transduction system, involving a small protein, CheY, which shuttles back and forth between the receptor complexes clustered at the pole of the cell and the flagellar motor complexes around the cell. These interactions are modulated by phosphorylation and acetylation. The excitatory signalling process involves amplification. The adaptation signalling involves methylation of the receptors.