Bacterial amino acid chemotaxis: a widespread strategy with multiple physiological and ecological roles

Summary

This narrative review synthesises evidence on bacterial amino acid chemotaxis, a widespread sensory mechanism observed across diverse bacterial phylogenies and lifestyles. The authors detail how bacteria sense and respond to amino acids both as metabolic substrates and environmental cues through multiple chemoreceptor families, particularly those with dCache_1 domains, and discuss the broad biological significance of these responses in plant–microbe interactions, biofilm formation, and pathogenic colonisation. The review provides a framework for understanding amino acid chemotaxis in understudied bacterial systems, with implications for beneficial soil bacteria and agricultural pathogens alike.

Regional applicability

This is a mechanistic review of bacterial physiology with no geographic constraints. The findings are globally applicable and relevant to United Kingdom agricultural research on soil microbiology, plant–microbe interactions in root colonisation by beneficial bacteria, and plant pathogen epidemiology. The molecular mechanisms described are universally relevant to temperate farming systems.

Key measures

Chemotactic response specificity; amino acid ligand spectra of chemoreceptors; molecular mechanisms of chemoreceptor activation; biological significance across ecological and pathogenic contexts

Outcomes reported

The review synthesises evidence on bacterial chemotactic responses to amino acids across diverse bacterial taxa, identifying multiple physiological roles including biofilm formation, root colonisation by beneficial bacteria, phytopathogen plant entry, intestinal colonisation, and virulence in human and animal pathogens. The study characterises the molecular mechanisms of amino acid sensing through chemoreceptor families and ligand-binding domains.

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