Abstract
Non-genetic phenotypic diversity plays a significant role in the chemotactic behavior of bacteria, influencing how populations sense and respond to chemical stimuli. First, we review the molecular mechanisms that generate phenotypic diversity in bacterial chemotaxis. Next, we discuss the functional consequences of phenotypic diversity for the chemosensing and chemotactic performance of single cells and populations. Finally, we discuss mechanisms that modulate the amount of phenotypic diversity in chemosensory parameters in response to changes in the environment.
Highlights
Bacteria display very diverse morphologies and behaviors
Substantial phenotypic diversity occurs within populations of bacteria that share the same genome [3,4,5,6]
Behavioral differences between individuals were greater than could be explained by potential mutations accumulating during growth. This and other early work in Escherichia coli [9,10] raised questions about cell-to-cell variability in chemotactic behavior and how collective migration occurs in the midst of phenotypic diversity
Summary
Bacteria display very diverse morphologies and behaviors. This diversity allows genetically distinct individuals to serve different roles in a community. We focus on non-genetic diversity in chemical sensing and the well-characterized chemotaxis system of E. coli for which there is a relatively good understanding of the molecular mechanism by which the chemotactic signaling pathway uses external signals to bias cell’s run-and-tumble motility toward favorable locations [17,18]. In this two-component system, five types of chemoreceptors (Tar, Tsr, Trg, Tap, and Aer) form homodimers arranged in trimers of dimers, themselves arranged in hexagonal latices comprising thousands of receptors connected by the scaffold protein CheW and the histidine kinase CheA [19,20,21]. E, and f are adapted from Koler et al, 2018 [34]; Kim et al, 2020 [35]; and Keegstra et al, 2017 [36]
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