%0 Journal Article %1 Xie2011 %A Xie, L %A Altindal, T %A Chattopadhyay, S %A Wu, X L %D 2011 %J Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A %K bacteria motility %N 6 %P 2246-2251 %R 10.1073/pnas.1011953108 %T From the Cover: Bacterial flagellum as a propeller and as a rudder for efficient chemotaxis %U http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3038696/ %V 108 %X We investigate swimming and chemotactic behaviors of the polarly flagellated marine bacteria Vibrio alginolyticus in an aqueous medium. Our observations show that V. alginolyticus execute a cyclic, three-step (forward, reverse, and flick) swimming pattern that is distinctively different from the run-tumble pattern adopted by Escherichia coli. Specifically, the bacterium backtracks its forward swimming path when the motor reverses. However, upon resuming forward swimming, the flagellum flicks and a new swimming direction is selected at random. In a chemically homogeneous medium (no attractant or repellent), the consecutive forward t(f) and backward t(b) swimming times are uncorrelated. Interestingly, although t(f) and t(b) are not distributed in a Poissonian fashion, their difference Δt = |t(f) - t(b)| is. Near a point source of attractant, on the other hand, t(f) and t(b) are found to be strongly correlated, and Δt obeys a bimodal distribution. These observations indicate that V. alginolyticus exploit the time-reversal symmetry of forward and backward swimming by using the time difference to regulate their chemotactic behavior. By adopting the three-step cycle, cells of V. alginolyticus are able to quickly respond to a chemical gradient as well as to localize near a point source of attractant.

@article{Xie2011, abstract = {We investigate swimming and chemotactic behaviors of the polarly flagellated marine bacteria Vibrio alginolyticus in an aqueous medium. Our observations show that V. alginolyticus execute a cyclic, three-step (forward, reverse, and flick) swimming pattern that is distinctively different from the run-tumble pattern adopted by Escherichia coli. Specifically, the bacterium backtracks its forward swimming path when the motor reverses. However, upon resuming forward swimming, the flagellum flicks and a new swimming direction is selected at random. In a chemically homogeneous medium (no attractant or repellent), the consecutive forward t(f) and backward t(b) swimming times are uncorrelated. Interestingly, although t(f) and t(b) are not distributed in a Poissonian fashion, their difference Δt = |t(f) - t(b)| is. Near a point source of attractant, on the other hand, t(f) and t(b) are found to be strongly correlated, and Δt obeys a bimodal distribution. These observations indicate that V. alginolyticus exploit the time-reversal symmetry of forward and backward swimming by using the time difference to regulate their chemotactic behavior. By adopting the three-step cycle, cells of V. alginolyticus are able to quickly respond to a chemical gradient as well as to localize near a point source of attractant.}, added-at = {2013-07-09T13:28:52.000+0200}, author = {Xie, L and Altindal, T and Chattopadhyay, S and Wu, X L}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2961b7e69b0e8b7dc7a41a4ee27f435f8/quantentunnel}, doi = {10.1073/pnas.1011953108}, file = {Xie2011.pdf:Artikel/Xie2011.pdf:PDF}, groups = {public}, interhash = {e808d702e9d39f5667d3cc12c79837e0}, intrahash = {961b7e69b0e8b7dc7a41a4ee27f435f8}, journal = {Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A}, keywords = {bacteria motility}, month = {February}, number = 6, pages = {2246-2251}, pmid = {21205908}, timestamp = {2014-03-14T11:35:32.000+0100}, title = {From the Cover: Bacterial flagellum as a propeller and as a rudder for efficient chemotaxis}, url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3038696/}, username = {quantentunnel}, volume = 108, year = 2011 }