Chemotaxis molecular mechanisms

Pheromone production and perception form a very common means of chemical communication between different individuals of a society, and it is especially developed for well defined molecules among insects. In this case the molecular mechanism of transduction is not very different from that of olfactory perception. On the other hand, chemical signals also exist between microorganism, and chemotaxis is a widespread phenomenon leading to cell motion. Especially bacterial chemotaxis is an important mechanism in the nutrition of mobile bacteria and their protection from toxic substances. Hence the effector substances are not as specialized as pheromones, but rather are molecules of more general availability [19]. 

This book reviews some of the best-characterized chemotaxis systems, from bacteria to human eells. In so doing, the book demonstrates how basic chemotaxis is to life, how widespread it is, and how versatile its physiologieal funetions are. The book attempts to present the state of the art of a number of representative molecular mechanisms of chemotaxis, to indicate unanswered questions surrounding each mechanism, and to suggest future direetions for researeh. In some systems, the implications for health eonditions are diseussed. Thus, in the next chapter (Chapter 2), Joseph Lengeler surveys the systems and ph enomena in which chemotaxis appears to have a role. Some issues... 

Physiology and Molecular Mechanisms of Chemotaxis of White Blood Cells ... 

---