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Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology

Article

Keith Cassidy

The Bacterial Brain: Looking into a Chemoreceptor Array

The ability of all living things, from single cells to large multicellular organisms, to sense and interpret environmental signals is central to life. Bacteria have evolved exquisite protein networks, which they use to detect spatial gradients in certain chemicals in their surroundings and appropriately alter their swimming behavior. This computation is carried out within the chemoreceptor array, a remarkably ordered supramolecular complex composed of the histidine kinase, CheA; adaptor protein, CheW; and various methyl‐accepting chemotaxis proteins (MCPs), which cluster together by the thousands at the cell pole. The clustering of receptors within the chemoreceptor array gives rise to the systems‐level information processing properties of bacterial chemotaxis such as signal amplification, ultrasensitivity, and precise adaptation. We present an all‐atom structure of the chemoreceptorarray from the thermophile Thermotoga maritime, derived from computational and experimental techniques. The structure suggests a possible molecular mechanism for signal transduction through the array and its functional implications.

Nathan Shemonski

In vivo Computed Optical Interferometric Tomography

405 N. Mathews Ave. M/C 251

Urbana, IL 61801

217-244-1176

communications@beckman.illinois.edu

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology

405 N. Mathews Ave. M/C 251

Urbana, IL 61801

217-244-1176

communications@beckman.illinois.edu