A kinematic description of the trajectories of Listeria monocytogenes propelled by actin comet tails.

ABSTRACT: The bacterial pathogen Listeria monocytogenes propels itself in the cytoplasm of the infected cells by forming a filamentous comet tail assembled by the polymerization of the cytoskeletal protein actin. Although a great deal is known about the molecular processes that lead to actin-based movement, most macroscale aspects of motion, including the nature of the trajectories traced out by the motile bacteria, are not well understood. Here, we present 2D trajectories of Listeria moving between a glass-slide and coverslip in a Xenopus frog egg extract motility assay. We observe that the bacteria move in a number of fascinating geometrical trajectories, including winding S curves, translating figure eights, small- and large-amplitude sine curves, serpentine shapes, circles, and a variety of spir

SUBMITTER: Shenoy VB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1895934 | biostudies-literature | 2007 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature