A novel role for RecA under non-stress: promotion of swarming motility in Escherichia coli K-12.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Bacterial motility is a crucial factor in the colonization of natural environments. Escherichia coli has two flagella-driven motility types: swimming and swarming. Swimming motility consists of individual cell movement in liquid medium or soft semisolid agar, whereas swarming is a coordinated cellular behaviour leading to a collective movement on semisolid surfaces. It is known that swimming motility can be influenced by several types of environmental stress. In nature, environmentally induced DNA damage (e.g. UV irradiation) is one of the most common types of stress. One of the key proteins involved in the response to DNA damage is RecA, a multifunctional protein required for maintaining genome integrity and the generation of genetic variation.

Results

The abilit

SUBMITTER: Gomez-Gomez JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1852089 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature