Microfluidics for bacterial chemotaxis

Microfluidics for bacterial chemotaxis

Microfluidics for bacterial chemotaxisw

Microfluidics is revolutionizing the way we study the motile behavior of cells, by enabling observations at high spatial and temporal resolution in carefully controlled microenvironments. An important class of such behavior is bacterial chemotaxis, which plays a fundamental role in a broad range of processes, including disease pathogenesis, biofilm formation, bioremediation, and even carbon cyc...

Bacterial chemotaxis

Chemotaxis is the directed motion of an organism toward environmental conditions it deems attractive and/or away from surroundings it finds repellent. Movement of flagellated bacteria such as Escherichia coli can be characterized as a sequence of smooth-swimming runs punctuated by intermittent tumbles. Tumbles last only a fraction of a second, which is sufficient to effectively randomize the di...

Chamber for bacterial chemotaxis experiments.

A design for a chemotaxis chamber and its use in bacterial chemotaxis experiments are described. Some of the advantages of the new design are discussed.

Bacterial strategies for chemotaxis response.

Regular environmental conditions allow for the evolution of specifically adapted responses, whereas complex environments usually lead to conflicting requirements upon the organism's response. A relevant instance of these issues is bacterial chemotaxis, where the evolutionary and functional reasons for the experimentally observed response to chemoattractants remain a riddle. Sensing and motility...