Hypothesis: Chemotaxis in Escherichia coli Results from Hyperstructure Dynamics

Large assemblies of different molecules and macromolecules,termed hyper structures, have been proposed to be the units of an intermediate level of organisation in bacteria. Here we propose a model for chemotaxis in Escherichia coli in which (1) the size and functioning of the chemo-signalling hyper-structure depends not only on the protein constituents but also on cardiolipin and calcium,(2) the coupled transcription, translation and insertion of nascent proteins (transertion) is a potentially powerful influence in determining the size of the chemo-signalling hyper-structure and therefore in affecting its function, and (3) a single transertional hyper-structure is jointly responsible for the synthesis of chemo-signalling and flagellar proteins so as to divorce the size of the chemo-signalling hyper-structure from the transertion of its constituents.