Making sense of it all: bacterial chemotaxis.
Bacteria must be able to respond to a changing environment, and one way to respond is to move. The transduction of sensory signals alters the concentration of small phosphorylated response regulators that bind to the rotary flagellar motor and cause switching. This simple pathway has provided a paradigm for sensory systems in general. However, the increasing number of sequenced bacterial genomes shows that although the central sensory mechanism seems to be common to all bacteria, there is added complexity in a wide range of species.
Wadhams
George H
GH
Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK.
Armitage
Judith P
JP
D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002633:Chemotaxis / Q000502:physiology*; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D000071677:Histidine Kinase; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008958:Models, Molecular; D020409:Molecular Motor Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D020409:Molecular Motor Proteins; D011494:Protein Kinases; D000071677:Histidine Kinase