Identification of a malate chemoreceptor in Pseudomonas aeruginosa by screening for chemotaxis defects in an energy taxis-deficient mutant

We found that a robust energy taxis response mediated by the Aer receptor can sometimes mask chemotaxis mediated by other methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins (MCPs) in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We identified PA2652 as a chemoreceptor for malate by screening aer mcp double mutants by using swarm plate assays.