Manson, Michael Professor

Bacteria have a limited behavioral repertoire. Their most conspicuous behavior is chemotaxis - the pursuit of molecules that are favorable to acquire and the avoidance of chemicals that are best to avoid. The simplicity of bacterial motility and chemotaxis and the amenability of the model species Escherichia coli to genetic, biochemical and physiological manipulation have facilitated rapid advances in understanding the molecular mechanisms of biological energy conversion and signal transduction.



Our laboratory studies the inputs and outputs of chemotaxis. Ligands interact with the periplasmic receptor domain of a chemotactic signal transducer that spans the cell membrane. This interaction is converted into an intracellular signal that is communicated to the flagella. Molecules can be sensed either by binding directly to a receptor or by first interacting with a periplasmic binding protein, which then interacts with a receptor.