Chemotaxis is the directed migration of cells in response to concentration gradients of extracellular signals. In unicellular organisms, such as bacteria and amoebae, chemotaxis is frequently used as a foraging mechanism [1]. ... Chemotaxis is also a contributing factor to many diseases.

What is chemotaxis and how does it work?

Chemotaxis is the directed motion of an organism toward environmental conditions it deems attractive and/or away from surroundings it finds repellent. Movement of flagellated bacteria such as Escherichia coli can be characterized as a sequence of smooth-swimming runs punctuated by intermittent tumbles.

How do bacteria use chemotaxis?

Bacterial chemotaxis is the biasing of movement towards environments that contain higher concentrations of beneficial, or lower concentrations of toxic, chemicals. ... The chemoreceptors and other proteins of the chemotaxis signalling pathway localize to specific regions of the cell as large higher-order arrays.