Bacterial Proprioception: Can a Bacterium Sense Its Movement?
The evolution of the bacterial flagellum gave rise to motility and repurposing of a signaling network, now termed the chemotaxis network, enabled biasing of cell movements. This made it possible for the bacterium to seek out favorable chemical environments. To enable chemotaxis, the chemotaxis netwo...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Microbiology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.928408/full |
| _version_ | 1828466992888152064 |
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| author | Rachit Gupta Junhua Yuan Pushkar P. Lele |
| author_facet | Rachit Gupta Junhua Yuan Pushkar P. Lele |
| author_sort | Rachit Gupta |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The evolution of the bacterial flagellum gave rise to motility and repurposing of a signaling network, now termed the chemotaxis network, enabled biasing of cell movements. This made it possible for the bacterium to seek out favorable chemical environments. To enable chemotaxis, the chemotaxis network sensitively detects extracellular chemical stimuli and appropriately modulates flagellar functions. Additionally, the flagellar motor itself is capable of detecting mechanical stimuli and adapts its structure and function in response, likely triggering a transition from planktonic to surface-associated lifestyles. Recent work has shown a link between the flagellar motor’s response to mechanical stimuli and the chemotactic output. Here, we elaborate on this link and discuss how it likely helps the cell sense and adapt to changes in its swimming speeds in different environments. We discuss the mechanism whereby the motor precisely tunes its chemotaxis output under different mechanical loads, analogous to proprioception in higher order organisms. We speculate on the roles bacterial proprioception might play in a variety of phenomena including the transition to surface-associated lifestyles such as swarming and biofilms. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T03:58:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fc34b547c8cd4071b4abb9bfe277d67a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-302X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T03:58:44Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Microbiology |
| spelling | doaj.art-fc34b547c8cd4071b4abb9bfe277d67a2022-12-22T01:21:42ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Microbiology1664-302X2022-07-011310.3389/fmicb.2022.928408928408Bacterial Proprioception: Can a Bacterium Sense Its Movement?Rachit Gupta0Junhua Yuan1Pushkar P. Lele2Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United StatesDepartment of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, ChinaArtie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United StatesThe evolution of the bacterial flagellum gave rise to motility and repurposing of a signaling network, now termed the chemotaxis network, enabled biasing of cell movements. This made it possible for the bacterium to seek out favorable chemical environments. To enable chemotaxis, the chemotaxis network sensitively detects extracellular chemical stimuli and appropriately modulates flagellar functions. Additionally, the flagellar motor itself is capable of detecting mechanical stimuli and adapts its structure and function in response, likely triggering a transition from planktonic to surface-associated lifestyles. Recent work has shown a link between the flagellar motor’s response to mechanical stimuli and the chemotactic output. Here, we elaborate on this link and discuss how it likely helps the cell sense and adapt to changes in its swimming speeds in different environments. We discuss the mechanism whereby the motor precisely tunes its chemotaxis output under different mechanical loads, analogous to proprioception in higher order organisms. We speculate on the roles bacterial proprioception might play in a variety of phenomena including the transition to surface-associated lifestyles such as swarming and biofilms.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.928408/fullmechanosensingproton-motive forceCheYchemotaxismotility |
| spellingShingle | Rachit Gupta Junhua Yuan Pushkar P. Lele Bacterial Proprioception: Can a Bacterium Sense Its Movement? Frontiers in Microbiology mechanosensing proton-motive force CheY chemotaxis motility |
| title | Bacterial Proprioception: Can a Bacterium Sense Its Movement? |
| title_full | Bacterial Proprioception: Can a Bacterium Sense Its Movement? |
| title_fullStr | Bacterial Proprioception: Can a Bacterium Sense Its Movement? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Bacterial Proprioception: Can a Bacterium Sense Its Movement? |
| title_short | Bacterial Proprioception: Can a Bacterium Sense Its Movement? |
| title_sort | bacterial proprioception can a bacterium sense its movement |
| topic | mechanosensing proton-motive force CheY chemotaxis motility |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.928408/full |
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