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Generating Controlled, Dynamic Chemical Landscapes to Study Microbial Behavior
Published on: January 31, 2020
[Bacterial chemotaxis to naphthalene]
L Iu Zaval'skiĭ1, A I Marchenko, R V Borovik
1State Research Center for Applied Microbiology, Ministry of Public Health, Russian Federation, Moscow Oblast, Obolensk, 142279 Russia. zavalsky@obolensk.org
Abstract:
The chemotaxis of two pseudomonads, P. putida AZ (Naph+) and P. putida AZ (Naph-), differing in the ability to metabolize naphthalene was studied by the known capillary method of Adler and the densitometric method devised in our laboratory. The migration of P. putida AZ (Naph+) cells toward increasing levels of naphthalene was accompanied by the formation of a migrating front of converted naphthalene. P. putida AZ (Naph-) cells, too, exhibited positive chemotaxis to naphthalene, but they did not form the front of converted naphthalene. The analysis of experimental data in terms of a kinetic model of bacterial chemotaxis showed that the densitometric method is a potential tool for studying bacterial chemotaxis to hydrophobic organic substances.
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