Medical Definition of Bacterial chemotaxis
1.
The response of bacteria to gradients of attractants or repellents. In a gradient of attractant the probability of deviating from a smooth forward path is reduced if the bacterium is moving up gradient.
Since the opposite is true if moving down gradient, the effect is to bias displacement towards the source of attractant. Strictly should perhaps be considered a klinokinesis with adaptation.
This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology
(11 Mar 2008)
Lexicographical Neighbors of Bacterial Chemotaxis
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