Chemotaxis-guided movements in bacteria.
Motile bacteria often use sophisticated chemotaxis signaling systems to direct their movements. In general, bacterial chemotactic signal transduction pathways have three basic elements: (1) signal reception by bacterial chemoreceptors located on the membrane; (2) signal transduction to relay the signals from membrane receptors to the motor; and (3) signal adaptation to desensitize the initial signal input. The chemotaxis proteins involved in these signal transduction pathways have been identified and extensively studied, especially in the enterobacteria Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium. Chemotaxis-guided bacterial movements enable bacteria to adapt better to their natural habitats via moving toward favorable conditions and away from hostile surroundings. A variety of oral microbes exhibits motility and chemotaxis, behaviors that may play important roles in bacterial survival and pathogenesis in the oral cavity.
Lux
Renate
R
School of Dentistry, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, University of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
Shi
Wenyuan
W
D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D002167:Campylobacter / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology; D002206:Capnocytophaga / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology; D002628:Chemoreceptor Cells; D002633:Chemotaxis / Q000502:physiology*; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D009055:Mouth / Q000382:microbiology*; D010518:Periodontitis / Q000382:microbiology*; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D020357:Selenomonas / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014208:Treponema / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface