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Overview
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Howard C. Berg, Principal InvestigatorBacterial Motility and BehaviorWe study bacteria, the simplest free-living single-celled organisms. We are interested in how they sense changes in their environment, analyze sensory data, and respond in a purposeful manner. Our quest is an understanding of behavior at the molecular level. Our primary subject is the peritrichously-flagellated organism Escherichia coli. We are trying to learn how its flagellar motors work, how their directions of rotation are controlled during responses to chemical stimuli (chemotaxis), and what effect that rotation has on modes of flagellar propulsion. We also have worked on other bacteria that swim without flagella (a cyanobacterium, Synechococcus) or glide over surfaces (Mycoplasma, that moves by an unknown mechanism, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, that uses thin fibers called type IV pili). For a review of bacterial motility see Berg, H.C. "Motile behavior of bacteria". Physics Today, 53(1), 24-29 (2000).
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Overview
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| Copyright © 2003 The Rowland Institute for Science. |
Last modified Tuesday, July 23, 2003.
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