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：1977
卷号：74
期号：1
页码：183-187
DOI：10.1073/pnas.74.1.183
语种：English
出版社：The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要：Chemotaxis of E. coli is a behavioral response to a change in the concentration of a stimulatory compound. The response is transient; thus, E. coli undergoes sensory adaptation. In this communication, we show that L-methionine is required by E. coli for adaptation to increases in the concentration of chemical attractants, but is not required for the maintenance of the adapted state. When the concentration of the attractant is lowered to its initial level, cells regain their sensitivity to the attractant. This process of deadaptation does not require methionine. We suggest that the methylation of a membrane protein, a reaction previously shown to be involved in chemotaxis [Kort, E.N., Goy, M.F., Larsen, S.H. & Adler J. (1975) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 72, 3939-3943] underlies these phenomena.
