Article Figures & Data
Figures
- Fig. 1.
Cellular behavioral change in response to a chemoattractant (1% young rabbit serum; a) and a chemorepellent (100 mM ethanol; b). Wild-type B31 cells were used; the testing chemical was added to bacterial suspension at s 120, as indicated by an arrowhead. The behavioral change in response to the chemicals was studied by videomicroscopy, recorded by a VCR, and analyzed frame by frame for the ratio of time spent swimming and pausing-flexing (tsw/tp&f). Each data point represents a time ratio in a 30-s window. Data shown represent the behavioral change of one representative cell; more than 20 cells were studied, and similar results were observed.
- Fig. 2.
Cellular aggregation and self-entanglement of B. burgdorferi. (a) Wild-type B31 cells were grown in BSK II medium and resuspended at high cell density (OD605 = 0.1) in solution containing 10 mM NaH2PO4 (pH 9.0), 10−4 M EDTA, 0.15 M NaCl, and 10 mg of BSA per ml. The arrowhead indicates a large cell clump. (b) Wild-type B31 cells were resuspended at low cell density (OD605 = 0.005) in the buffer described above. The arrowhead indicates a cell with a self-entangled end.
- Fig. 3.
Gyration of the nontangled cell end in response to a chemoattractant (1% young rabbit serum; a) and a chemorepellent (100 mM ethanol; b). Low-density bacteria were suspended in solution containing 10 mM NaH2PO4 (pH 9.0), 0.15 M NaCl, 10−4 M EDTA, and 10 mg of BSA per ml. After production of cells with a self-entangled end, the bacteria were resuspended in the same buffer at pH 7.6 and mixed with testing chemicals at s 60, as indicated by an arrowhead. The gyration of the nontangled end was studied by videomicroscopy, recorded by a VCR, and analyzed frame by frame for the time spent on pushing (indicating CW rotation), pulling (indicating CCW rotation), and pausing (indicating no rotation). Data shown represents the behavioral change of one representative cell; more than 20 cells were studied, and similar results were observed.
Tables
- Table 1.
Examples of cellular behavior studied by videomicroscopya
Cell no. Time (min) of movement with: Time moving forward/time moving reversed One end forward The other end forward 1 11.3 9.8 1:0.87 2 7.1 8.4 1:1.18 3 8.1 6.9 1:0.85 4 4.5 6.4 1:1.42 5 10.4 7.1 1:0.68 6 7.4 5.8 1:0.78 ↵a Cellular behavior of strain B31 was observed by videomicroscopy as described in Materials and Methods. Results for only some representative cells are given; more than 20 cells were studied, and similar results were observed.
- Table 2.
Chemicals used for attraction and repulsion ofB. burgdorferi B31
Categorya Chemical compound, mixture, or condition Threshold Attractant BSK II medium with serum Rabbit serum 0.5% solution Repellent High pH >8.5 Low pH <6.5 Ethanol 10−2 M Butanol 5 × 10−3 M H2O2 1% CaCl2 7.5 × 10−2 M KCl 10−1 M No effect Each single amino acid 10−2 M Glucose 10−1 M Galactose 10−1 M Maltose 10−1 M Lactose 10−1 M BSA 100 mg/ml Peptone 1% Yeast extract 1% BSK II medium without serum ↵a Chemoattraction was tested by the capillary assay. Chemicals attracting >5-fold more bacteria than the control were considered attractants. Repellents were tested by the plug assay or temporal assay as described in Materials and Methods.
