CHEA, CHEW, AND CHEY ARE REQUIRED FOR CHEMOTAXIS TO OXYGEN AND SUGARSOF THE PHOSPHOTRANSFERASE SYSTEM IN ESCHERICHIA-COLI

We carried out studies with Escherichia coli to determine the site at which the methylation-independent pathways for taxis to oxygen and to sugars of the phosphoenolpyruvate:sugar phosphotransferase transport s ystem converge with the methylation-dependent chemotaxis pathways. Usi ng genetic reconstitution of the pathways in a null strain, we determi ned that ail pathways examined required the products of the genes cheA , cheW, and cheY. Thus, we conclude that both the methylation-independ ent and methylation-dependent pathways converge at CheA, the histidine kinase product of cheA.