The superheroes of nutrient detection living in our oceans

By and large, marine bacteria have a fairly simple existence – eat, divide, repeat. But the first step isn't always straightforward. There are lots of nutrients in the ocean, but there's no Uber Eats for microscopic organisms. ...

Bacteria reveal strong individuality when navigating a maze

Researchers from ETH Zurich demonstrate that genetically identical cells exhibit differing responses in their motility towards chemical attractants. Average values hide the full picture when it comes to describing the behavior ...

Researchers unraveling the mystery of how sperm cells navigate

Researchers have found that a protein in the cell membranes of sperm plays a key role in how they find their way to eggs. The PMCA protein may also help explain how egg cells only interact with sperm from the same species. ...

First microarrayed 3-D neuronal culture platform developed

Neuronal development is often regulated by the graded distribution of guidance molecules, which can either attract or repel the neuronal migration or neurite projection when presented in a format of concentration gradients, ...

The forces of attraction: How cells change direction

Many cell types in higher organisms are capable of implementing directed motion in response to the presence of certain chemical attractants in their vicinity. A team led by Dr. Doris Heinrich of the Faculty of Physics and ...

Engineering bacterial cells

(PhysOrg.com) -- Two teams of Oxford University researchers led by Professors Judith Armitage and David Stuart have made the first steps towards being able to engineer a bacterial cell that can sense and respond to novel ...

Chemotaxis

Chemotaxis is the phenomenon in which somatic cells, bacteria, and other single-cell or multicellular organisms direct their movements according to certain chemicals in their environment. This is important for bacteria to find food (for example, glucose) by swimming towards the highest concentration of food molecules, or to flee from poisons (for example, phenol). In multicellular organisms, chemotaxis is critical to early development (e.g. movement of sperm towards the egg during fertilization) and subsequent phases of development (e.g. migration of neurons or lymphocytes) as well as in normal function. In addition, it has been recognized that mechanisms that allow chemotaxis in animals can be subverted during cancer metastasis.

Positive chemotaxis occurs if the movement is towards a higher concentration of the chemical in question. Conversely, negative chemotaxis occurs if the movement is in the opposite direction.

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