Evidence against the involvement of chemotaxis in swarming of Proteus mirabilis

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Abstract
Nonswarming and nonchemotactic mutants of B. mirabilis were isolated after mutagenesis with N-methyl-N''-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine or UV light. These mutants were used in experiments to determine if chemotaxis is involved in the swarming of P. mirabilis. Nonchemotactic mutants failed to form chemotactic bands in a semisolid casein hydrolysate medium, yet they swarmed on the same medium containing 1.5% agar. Nonswarming mutants were attracted towards individual amino acids and components of tryptose. In cross-feeding experiments, no evidence was obtained to indicate the production of a diffusable chemical repellent. In studies with the wild-type P. mirabilis, no clear-cut negative chemotaxis was seen even though 3 different assays were used and numerous chemicals were tested. Additional evidence against the involvement of chemotaxis in swarming comes from finding that dialysis does not interfere with swarming; swarm cells will swarm immediately when transferred to fresh media and swarm cells will swarm on an agar-water medium supplemented with a surfactant. Chemotaxis is apparently not involved in the swarming of P. mirabilis.

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