Behavioral Response and Imaging of Motor Flagella in E. Coli

Abstract

Chemotaxis in E. coli is controlled by signaling from membrane-bound chemoreceptors to flagellar motors. This determines the direction that the flagella rotate. These flagellar motors can switch from clockwise (CW) to counter-clockwise (CCW) rotation in response to ligand binding to a chemoreceptor. The complete molecular mechanism of the switching process, however, remains to be explained. We will use mutant alleles of the serine chemoreceptor Tsr to probe the changes that take place in the flagellar motor during controlled switching from CW to CCW rotation, and vice versa, in E. coli mini-cells