Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Physics of chemoreception

H C Berg, E M Purcell

    Biophysical Journal
    |November 1, 1977
    PubMed
    Summary
    This summary is machine-generated.

    Microorganisms determine chemoattractant concentration using surface receptors, with precision limited by statistical fluctuations. Escherichia coli

    Related Concept Videos

    You might also read

    Related Articles

    Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

    Sort by
    Same author

    Beta-Decay Half-Lives beyond ^{54}Ca: A Systematic Survey of Decay Properties Approaching the Neutron Dripline.

    Physical review letters·2026
    Same author

    Constraining the Synthesis of the Lightest p Nucleus ^{74}Se.

    Physical review letters·2025
    Same author

    Universal Effective Charges in the sd and fp Shells.

    Physical review letters·2025
    Same author

    First Study of the ^{139}Ba(n,γ)^{140}Ba Reaction to Constrain the Conditions for the Astrophysical i Process.

    Physical review letters·2024
    Same author

    Proton Shell Gaps in N=28 Nuclei from the First Complete Spectroscopy Study with FRIB Decay Station Initiator.

    Physical review letters·2024
    Same author

    Comprehensive Test of the Brink-Axel Hypothesis in the Energy Region of the Pygmy Dipole Resonance.

    Physical review letters·2021
    Same journal

    Enhanced-Sampling Simulations Reveal Distinct Intermediates in SARS-CoV-2 FSE Pseudoknot Interconversion.

    Biophysical journal·2026
    Same journal

    Structure-based simulations of the full Flock House virus capsid reveal pathways and energetics of an infection-critical peptide externalization event.

    Biophysical journal·2026
    Same journal

    Quantifying the Peripheral Surface Information Entropy from Conformational Ensembles of Globular Protein-Peptide Complexes.

    Biophysical journal·2026
    Same journal

    Anisotropic unbinding and location-dependent hovering of a kinesin motor head over microtubule.

    Biophysical journal·2026
    Same journal

    Kinesin-5/Cut7 C-terminal tail phosphorylation influence on motor regulation through multi-scale molecular modeling.

    Biophysical journal·2026
    Same journal

    Dynamic conformations of fluorophores on self-labeling protein tags.

    Biophysical journal·2026
    See all related articles

    Area of Science:

    • Microbiology
    • Biophysics
    • Biochemistry

    Background:

    • Statistical fluctuations inherently limit the precision of chemoattractant concentration determination by microorganisms.
    • Cells monitor chemoattractant levels by observing the occupation state of surface receptors.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • To analyze the biophysical limits on microbial chemotaxis precision.
    • To evaluate the optimal design for cellular chemoattractant sensing.

    Main Methods:

    • Theoretical analysis of receptor-ligand interactions and diffusion-limited adsorption.
    • Mathematical modeling of statistical errors in concentration sensing.
    • Evaluation of experimental data from bacterial chemotaxis and cellular slime mold.

    Related Experiment Videos

    Main Results:

    • Optimal sensing requires only a small fraction of the cell surface to be involved in specific adsorption.
    • The minimum fractional error in concentration determination is proportional to (TcaD)^-1/2.
    • Escherichia coli exhibits chemotactic sensitivity close to the theoretical optimum.

    Conclusions:

    • Microbial chemotaxis precision is fundamentally constrained by statistical noise.
    • The number of receptors required for near-optimal performance is on the order of the cell's radius divided by the receptor size.
    • Escherichia coli's chemotactic capabilities are highly optimized, approaching theoretical limits.