Robust chemotaxis beyond sensing limits: signal, noise, and strategy

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Biophysics
• Systems Biology

Background:

• Bacterial chemotaxis is traditionally considered near physical sensing limits.
• Recent studies suggest *Escherichia coli* utilizes minimal information from ligand statistics for motion bias.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how low internal information efficiency in bacterial chemotaxis relates to observable behavioral performance.
• To explore the role of movement strategies in shaping chemotactic robustness and function.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of information-theoretic approaches to bacterial sensing.
• Development of minimal models and scaling arguments for bacterial movement.
• Comparative analysis of bacterial and eukaryotic chemotaxis strategies.

Main Results:

• Bacterial run-and-tumble chemotaxis exhibits robustness to noise via symmetry and temporal averaging, irrespective of internal information processing efficiency.
• Movement strategy significantly influences chemotactic performance alongside information transmission and noise.
• Differences in sensing strategies between bacterial and eukaryotic chemotaxis lead to distinct observable behaviors.

Conclusions:

• Low information efficiency in bacterial chemotaxis does not necessarily equate to poor performance.
• Chemotactic performance results from a balance between robustness, simplicity, and functional requirements.
• Movement strategies are crucial for understanding bacterial navigation and adaptation.