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Bacterial thermotaxis by speed modulation.

Mahmut Demir1, Hanna Salman

  • 1Department of Physics and Astronomy, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

Biophysical Journal
|October 23, 2012
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Bacteria navigate shallow thermal gradients by altering swimming speed, influenced by temperature-dependent intracellular pH. Environmental factors like serine availability can reverse their migration direction, a phenomenon mediated by sensing receptors.

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Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Biophysics
  • Environmental Science

Background:

  • Bacteria often encounter shallow thermal gradients in natural environments.
  • Detecting such subtle gradients is challenging for bacterial navigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate bacterial behavior and migration in shallow thermal gradients.
  • To elucidate the mechanisms underlying directional movement in response to temperature cues.

Main Methods:

  • Studying bacterial swimming speed in response to temperature changes.
  • Analyzing the role of intracellular pH and chemical environment (serine concentration) in bacterial behavior.
  • Investigating the involvement of bacterial sensing receptors in directional migration.

Main Results:

  • Bacteria migrate along shallow thermal gradients by modulating swimming speed due to temperature-induced intracellular pH shifts.
  • In nutrient-scarce conditions, bacteria drift towards warmer temperatures as swimming speed decreases with increasing temperature.
  • In the presence of serine (>300 μM), bacteria migrate towards colder temperatures as swimming speed increases with temperature.
  • This migration is not classical thermotaxis, as gradient steepness is below the detection threshold.
  • Bacterial sensing receptors are crucial for directional switching, likely by regulating intracellular pH.

Conclusions:

  • Bacterial migration in shallow thermal gradients is driven by temperature-dependent changes in swimming speed, mediated by intracellular pH.
  • The direction of migration can be reversed by altering the chemical environment, specifically serine concentration.
  • Sensing receptors play a key role in regulating intracellular pH and thus controlling migration direction, even below the classical thermotaxis sensing threshold.