期刊名称：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN：0027-8424
电子版ISSN：1091-6490
出版年度：1972
卷号：69
期号：9
页码：2509-2512
DOI：10.1073/pnas.69.9.2509
语种：English
出版社：The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要：A "temporal gradient apparatus" has been developed that allows the motility of bacteria to be studied after they have been subjected to a sudden change from one uniform concentration of attractant to another. A sudden decrease elicits the tumbling response observed with spatial gradients; it was found, however, that a sudden increase also elicits a response, namely supercoordinated swimming. This demonstrates that chemotaxis is achieved by modulation of the incidence of tumbling both above and below its steady-state value. The initial responses gradually revert to the steady-state motility pattern characteristic of a uniform distribution of attractant. The apparent detection of a spatial gradient by the bacteria therefore involves an actual detection of a temporal gradient experienced as a result of movement through space. Potential models for the chemotactic response based on some "memory" mechanism are discussed.
