Implications of Three-Step Swimming Patterns in Bacterial Chemotaxis

We recently found that marine bacteria Vibrio alginolyticus execute a cyclic three-step (run-reverse-flick) motility pattern that is distinctively different from the two-step (run-tumble) pattern of Escherichia coli. How this novel, to our knowledge, swimming pattern is regulated by cells of V. alginolyticus is not currently known, but its significance for bacterial chemotaxis is self-evident and will be delineated herein. Using a statistical approach, we calculated the migration speed of a cell executing the three-step pattern in a linear chemical gradient, and found that a biphasic chemotactic response arises naturally. The implication of such a response for the cells to adapt to ocean environments and its possible connection to E. coli's response are also discussed.