Drift and behavior of E. coli cells

Abstract

Chemotaxis of the bacterium Escherichia coli is well understood in shallow chemical gradients, but its swimming behavior remains difficult to interpret in steep gradients. By focusing on single-cell trajectories from simulations, we investigated the dependence of the chemotactic drift velocity on attractant concentration in an exponential gradient. While maxima of the average drift velocity can be interpreted within analytical linear-response theory of chemotaxis in shallow gradients, limits in drift due to steep gradients and finite number of receptor-methylation sites for adaptation go beyond perturbation theory. For instance, we found a surprising pinning of the cells to the concentration in the gradient at which cells run out of methylation sites. To validate the positions of maximal drift, we recorded single-cell trajectories in carefully designed chemical gradients using microfluidics.

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Cited by in corpus (6)

• Effect of receptor clustering on chemotactic performance of Escherichia coli: sensing versus adaptation
• Effect of switching time scale of receptor activity on chemotactic performance of Escherichia coli
• Effect of receptor cooperativity on methylation dynamics in bacterial chemotaxis with weak and strong gradient
• Transient drift of Escherichia coli under diffusing Step nutrient profile
• Bacterial Chemotaxis in a Traveling Wave Attractant Environment
• Is E. coli good at chemotaxis?