IGEM:Brown/2007/Sensor/What to detect?

Bacterial signal transduction network in a genomic perspective

author: Michael Y. Galperin

Tables 1 and 2 show what types of signalling molecules are present in different types of prokaryotes.

It looks like S_TKc (Serine-Threonine kinase, catalytic) would work best for E. Coli because there are not many of them in E. Coli naturally. Or, we may want to use a signalling protein that doesn't exist yet in E. Coli, to prevent confusion and false signals.

Signal transduction: Hair brains in bacterial chemotaxis

authors: Jeff Stock and Mikhail Levit

In their ‘ON’ state, in the absence of attractants, several receptors bind to CheA in such a way that CheA is activated over 100-fold [24], and conversely CheA binding to the receptors appears to be required for long-range structural interactions that serve to organize the array. In the ‘OFF’ state, in the presence of attractants, it is as if the CheA dimer is torn apart by binding to the receptor network.

In E. coli, at least five different receptors — Tar, Tsr, Tap, Trg and Aer — appear to be intermingled within the same complex.

a) Tar: aspartate and maltose; cobalt and nickel

b) Tsr: serine

c) Tap: Taxis towards peptides

d) Trg: ribose and galactose

e) Aer: directs taxis towards ribose, galactose, maltose, malate, proline and alanine

a. CheA is a kinase that takes a phosphate off of ATP and attaches it to itself

b. CheW connects CheA to the chemoreceptor