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Journal of Bacteriology, September 2002, p. 4981-4987, Vol. 184, No. 18
0021-9193/02/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JB.184.18.4981-4987.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Sara L. Borchardt,1 Robert M. Owen,2 and Laura L. Kiessling1,2*
Departments of Chemistry,2 Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin at Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 537061
Received 6 March 2002/ Accepted 6 June 2002
Many bacteria concentrate their chemoreceptors at the cell poles. Chemoreceptor location is important in Escherichia coli, since chemosensory responses are sensitive to receptor proximity. It is not known, however, whether chemotaxis in other bacteria is similarly regulated. To investigate the importance of receptor-receptor interactions in other bacterial species, we synthesized saccharide-bearing multivalent ligands that are designed to cluster relevant chemoreceptors. As has been shown with E. coli, we demonstrate that the behaviors of Bacillus subtilis, Spirochaete aurantia, and Vibrio furnissii are sensitive to the valence of the chemoattractant. Moreover, in B. subtilis, chemotactic responses to serine were increased by pretreatment with saccharide-bearing multivalent ligands. This result indicates that, as in E. coli, signaling information is transferred among chemoreceptors in B. subtilis. These results suggest that interreceptor communication may be a general mechanism for modulating chemotactic responses in bacteria.
Present address: Quintessence Biosciences, Madison, WI 53719.
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