Chemotaxis as an emergent property of a swarm.
We have characterized and quantified a form of bacterial chemotaxis that manifests only as an emergent property by measuring symmetry breaking in a swarm of Myxococcus xanthus exposed to a two-dimensional nutrient gradient from within an agar substrate. M. xanthus chemotaxis requires cell-cell contact and coordinated motility, as individual motile cells exhibit only nonvectorial movement in the presence of a nutrient gradient. Genes that specifically affect M. xanthus chemotaxis include at least 10 of the 53 that express enhancer binding proteins of the NtrC-like class, an indication that this behavior is controlled through transcription, most likely by a complex signal transduction network.
Taylor
Rion G
RG
Department of Biology, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, USA.
Welch
Roy D
RD
D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D002633:Chemotaxis; D005502:Food; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D008124:Locomotion; D016941:Myxococcus xanthus / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction
D001426:Bacterial Proteins