Effect of temperature on motility and chemotaxis of Escherichia coli.

The swimming velocity of Escherichia coli at various constant temperatures was found to increase with increasing temperature. The frequency of tumbling had a peak at 34 degrees C and was very low both at 20 and at 39 degrees C. The swimming tracks near the surface of a slide glass showed curves, and the curvature increased the temperature. When the temperature of a bacterial suspension was suddenly changed, a transient change of the tumbling frequency was observed. A temperature drop induced a temporary increase in the tumbling frequency, and a quick rise of temperature, on the other hand, resulted in a temporary suppression of the tumbling. These dynamic responses to sudden changes of temperature was not observed in the smoothly swimming nonchemotactic strains bearing the mutations cheA and cheC and also in a mutant with the metF mutation under a smooth swimming condition.     

Direct upstream motility in Escherichia coli

We provide an experimental demonstration of positive rheotaxis (rapid and continuous upstream motility) in wild-type Escherichia coli freely swimming over a surface. This hydrodynamic phenomenon is dominant below a critical shear rate and robust against Brownian motion and cell tumbling. We deduce that individual bacteria entering a flow system can rapidly migrate upstream (>20 μm/s) much faster than a gradually advancing biofilm. Given a bacterial population with a distribution of sizes and swim speeds, local shear rate near the surface determines the dominant hydrodynamic mode for motility, i.e., circular or random trajectories for low shear rates, positive rheotaxis for moderate flow, and sideways swimming at higher shear rates. Faster swimmers can move upstream more rapidly and at higher shear rates, as expected. Interestingly, we also find on average that both swim speed and upstream motility are independent of cell aspect ratio.     

Effect of gamma-ray irradiation on alcohol production from corn

Cracked corn was irradiated with gamma rays at 0-100 Mrad and the effects of the irradiation on sugar yield, susceptibility to enzymatic hydrolysis of starch, yeast growth, and alcohol production were studied. Gamma irradiation at 50 Mrad or greater produced a considerable amount of reducing sugar but little glucose. At lower dosages, gamma irradiation significantly increased the susceptibility of corn starch to enzymatic hydrolysis, but dosages of 50 Mrad or greater decomposed the starch molecules as indicated by the reduction in iodine uptake. About 12.5% reducing sugar was produced by amylase treatment of uncooked, irradiated corn. This amount exceeded the level of sugar produced from cooked (gelatinized) corn by the same enzyme treatment. The yeast numbers in submerged cultivation were lower on a corn substrate that was irradiated at 50 Mrad or greater compared to that on an unirradiated control. About the same level of alcohol was produced on uncooked, irradiated (10(5)-10(6) rad) corn as from cooked (121 degrees C for 30 min) corn. Therefore, the conventional cooking process for gelatinization of starch prior to its saccharification can be eliminated by irradiation. Irradiation also eliminated the necessity of sterilization of the medium and reduced the viscosity of high levels of substrate in the fermentation broth.     

Unidirectional motility of Escherichia coli in restrictive capillaries.

In a 6-microns capillary filled with buffer and in the absence of any chemotactic stimuli, Escherichia coli K-12 cells swim persistently in only one direction. This behavior of E. coli can be simply explained by means of the length and relative rigidity of their flagella. Single-cell motility parameters--swimming speed, turn angle, and run length time--were measured. Compared with the motility parameters measured in bulk phase, turn angle was influenced because of the effect of the geometrical restriction.     

Ribonuclease III is involved in motility of Escherichia coli.

Mutants of Escherichia coli deficient in ribonuclease III are nonmotile. All transductants and revertants that regained ribonuclease III also regained motility, and all transductants that remained or became rnc are nonmotile, although only some of the revertants that regained motility also became ribonuclease III+.     

Kinetics of Escherichia coli destruction by microwave irradiation.

The kinetics of destruction of Escherichia coli cells suspended in a solution by microwave irradiation with a microwave oven were studied. During radiation at several powers, the temperature of 0.01 M phosphate buffer (PB), pH 7.0, in a glass beaker increased linearly at a rate of A (degrees Centigrade per second) according to the exposure time. When E. coli cells suspended in PB were exposed in the same beaker, the number of viable cells decreased according to the exposure time and the power used. The survival curve was approximated to a set of three linear parts. For each part, a rate constant of destruction (k) and an extrapolated starting temperature (T0) at several powers were estimated. Thereafter, the relationships between A and k and between A and T0 were studied. When a flat petri dish was used, the A value of exposed PB was lower and bacterial destruction was inhibited; the survival curve was similar to a curve predicted from the A value by using the relationships between the parameters. As the concentration of salt in the solution increased (from 0 to 1.35 M), the A value decreased and bacterial destruction was more suppressed. No remarkable difference between the destruction profiles for microwave exposure and conventional heating, which had the potential to generate an equal A value, was detected. These results showed that the parameter A of an irradiated solution is essential when kinetics of bacterial destruction by microwave exposure are studied and that the destruction profile can be interpreted mostly by means of thermal effects.     

Kinetics of Escherichia coli destruction by microwave irradiation.

The kinetics of destruction of Escherichia coli cells suspended in a solution by microwave irradiation with a microwave oven were studied. During radiation at several powers, the temperature of 0.01 M phosphate buffer (PB), pH 7.0, in a glass beaker increased linearly at a rate of A (degrees Centigrade per second) according to the exposure time. When E. coli cells suspended in PB were exposed in the same beaker, the number of viable cells decreased according to the exposure time and the power used. The survival curve was approximated to a set of three linear parts. For each part, a rate constant of destruction (k) and an extrapolated starting temperature (T0) at several powers were estimated. Thereafter, the relationships between A and k and between A and T0 were studied. When a flat petri dish was used, the A value of exposed PB was lower and bacterial destruction was inhibited; the survival curve was similar to a curve predicted from the A value by using the relationships between the parameters. As the concentration of salt in the solution increased (from 0 to 1.35 M), the A value decreased and bacterial destruction was more suppressed. No remarkable difference between the destruction profiles for microwave exposure and conventional heating, which had the potential to generate an equal A value, was detected. These results showed that the parameter A of an irradiated solution is essential when kinetics of bacterial destruction by microwave exposure are studied and that the destruction profile can be interpreted mostly by means of thermal effects.     

Light-scattering study of the temperature dependence of Escherichia coli motility.

Two light-scattering techniques are used to study the temperature dependence of translational and rotational motility in Escherichia coli. The method of number fluctuation spectroscopy is developed theoretically and experimentally to measure the translational swimming speed of a smooth swimming strain of E. coli. Interference fluctuation techniques are used to study the rotational component of the motion. The results demonstrate that the thrust remains proportional the the torque generated by the flagella throughout the range studied and also show that relative changes in translational swimming speed may be inferred from the dynamics of rotational motion.     

Localization of proteins controlling motility and chemotaxis in Escherichia coli.

Flagellar proteins controlling motility and chemotaxis in Escherichia coli were selectively labeled in vivo with [35S]methionine. This distribution of these proteins in subcellular fractions was examined by sodium dodecyl sulfatepolyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and autoradiography. The motA, motB, cheM, and cheD gene products were found to be confined exclusively to the inner cytoplasmic membrane fraction, whereas the cheY, cheW, and cheA (66,000 daltons) polypeptides appeared only in the soluble cytoplasmic fraction. The cheB, cheX, cheZ, and cheA (76,000 daltons) proteins, however, were distributed in both the cytoplasm and the inner membrane fractions. The hag gene product (flagellin) was the only flagellar protein examined that copurified with the outer lipopolysaccharide membrane. Differences in the intracellular locations of the che and mot gene prodcuts presumably reflect the functional attributes of these components.     

UV irradiation alters deoxynucleoside triphosphate pools in Escherichia coli

UV irradiation of exponentially growing Escherichia coli increased intracellular concentration of dATP and DTTP without significantly changing the concentrations of dGTP and dCTP. These selective increases in dATP and dTTP pools are seen in wild-type E. coli K12 and AB1157, as well as in recA and umuC strains, and are proportional to UV dose. The possible significance of these findings with respect to induction of the SOS response and nontargeted mutagenesis are discussed.     

Stx2噬菌体溶原对大肠杆菌运动性及其相关基因表达的影响

【目的】通过基因缺失和噬菌体溶原转换研究大肠杆菌运动相关基因flhDC、fliA、fliD和fliE对Stx2噬菌体ΦMin27溶原菌的影响。【方法】本实验利用Red重组酶系统,构建了大肠杆菌MG1655的缺失株MG1655△flhDC、MG1655△fliA、MG1655△fliD及MG1655△fliE,并将flhDC片段、fliA片段、fliD片段和fliE片段连接pUC18后分别转化相应的突变株,得到相应的互补菌株。通过Stx2噬菌体ΦMin27的感染获得各缺失株的溶原株MG1655△flhDCФMin27、MG1655△fliAФMin27、MG1655△fliDФMin27及MG1655△fliEФMin27。随后测定了野生株、缺失株、互补株和溶原株的运动能力,并通过荧光定量PCR分析了flhDC缺失前后野生株和溶原株其他运动相关基因表达量的变化。【结果】Stx2噬菌体ФMin27溶原感染可促进MG1655的fliA和fliD基因的表达,增强宿主菌MG1655的运动特性;MG1655在flhDC基因缺失的状态下,fliA和fliD基因的表达同步出现上调,但运动性未发生变化,而MG1655△flhDC溶原菌丧失了运动特性,基因转录水平检测发现MG1655△flhDCФMin27与MG1655△flhDC相比,fliA和fliD基因的表达同步出现显著下调,而对fliE基因的表达几乎没有影响。fliA、fliD和fliE单个基因的缺失对大肠杆菌MG1655和Stx2噬菌体ΦMin27溶原菌的运动性几乎没有影响。【结论】提示fliA和fliD基因共同参与了鞭毛运动的调控,flhDC基因可影响噬菌体溶原菌株的运动性,为进一步研究噬菌体溶原与宿主基因之间的相互调节作用提供理论依据。