Quantitative analysis of signal transduction in motile and phototactic cells by computerized light stimulation and model based tracking.

To investigate the responses of Halobacterium salinarum to stimulation with light (phototaxis and photokinesis), we designed an experimental setup consisting of optical devices for automatic video image acquisition and computer-controlled light stimulation, and developed algorithms to analyze physiological responses of the cells. Cells are categorized as motile and nonmotile by a classification scheme based on the square displacement of cell positions. Computerized tracking based on a dynamic model of the stochastic cell movement and a Kalman filter-based algorithm allows smoothed estimates of the cell tracks and the detection of physiological responses to complex stimulus patterns.

Flagellar rotation in the archaeon Halobacterium salinarum depends on ATP.

Halobacterium salinarum swims with the help of a polarly inserted flagellar bundle. In energized cells, the flagellar motors rotate continuously, occasionally switching the rotational sense. Starving cells become immotile as the energy level drops.