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E. coli chemotaxis is information-limited

View ORCID ProfileH.H. Mattingly, View ORCID ProfileK. Kamino, View ORCID ProfileB.B. Machta, View ORCID ProfileT. Emonet
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.02.22.432091
H.H. Mattingly
1Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Yale University
2Quantitative Biology Institute, Yale University
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  • ORCID record for H.H. Mattingly
K. Kamino
1Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Yale University
2Quantitative Biology Institute, Yale University
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B.B. Machta
3Department of Physics, Yale University
4Systems Biology Institute, West Campus, Yale University
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  • For correspondence: thierry.emonet@yale.edu benjamin.machta@yale.edu
T. Emonet
1Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Yale University
2Quantitative Biology Institute, Yale University
3Department of Physics, Yale University
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  • For correspondence: thierry.emonet@yale.edu benjamin.machta@yale.edu
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Abstract

Organisms must acquire and use environmental information to guide their behaviors. However, it is unclear whether and how information quantitatively limits behavioral performance. Here, we relate information to behavioral performance in Escherichia coli chemotaxis. First, we derive a theoretical limit for the maximum achievable gradient-climbing speed given a cell’s information acquisition rate. Next, we measure cells’ gradient-climbing speeds and the rate of information acquisition by the chemotaxis pathway. We find that E. coli make behavioral decisions with much less than the 1 bit required to determine whether they are swimming up-gradient. However, they use this information efficiently, performing near the theoretical limit. Thus, information can limit organisms’ performance, and sensory-motor pathways may have evolved to efficiently use information from the environment.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
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Posted February 22, 2021.
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E. coli chemotaxis is information-limited
H.H. Mattingly, K. Kamino, B.B. Machta, T. Emonet
bioRxiv 2021.02.22.432091; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.02.22.432091
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E. coli chemotaxis is information-limited
H.H. Mattingly, K. Kamino, B.B. Machta, T. Emonet
bioRxiv 2021.02.22.432091; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.02.22.432091

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