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Effects of Chemoattractants on the Motility of Escherichia coli

Nature New Biology volume 244, pages 253–254 (1973)Cite this article

Abstract

QUANTITATIVE studies of the chemotactic movements of flagellated bacteria have been reported recently1–5, and various details of the tactic response elicited by spatial gradients of certain sugars and amino acids have been established1–3. It has been shown, for example, that, over small ranges of chemo-attractant concentration, the chemotactic velocity is approximately proportional to the ratio of the gradient divided by the concentration (that is, Fechner's law)1–3. It is also known that response velocity depends on the absolute value of the chemoattractant concentration, increasing with values of attractant concentration up to a certain point (between 10−4 and 10−2 M, depending on the identity of the attractant), but then decreasing markedly at higher concentrations1–3.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physical Sciences Laboratory, Division of Computer Research and Technology, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, 20014

    RALPH NOSSAL

  2. Department of Nuclear Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139

    S. H. CHEN

Authors
  1. RALPH NOSSAL
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  2. S. H. CHEN
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NOSSAL, R., CHEN, S. Effects of Chemoattractants on the Motility of Escherichia coli. Nature New Biology 244, 253–254 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1038/newbio244253a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/newbio244253a0

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