Methanol formation in vivo from methylated chemotaxis proteins in Escherichia coli.

Chemotactically wild type Escherichia coli were incubated with L-[methyl-3H]methionine to label the methyl groups of their methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins. Cells were then treated to specifically demethylate these proteins. We have identified the end product of this demethylation as [3H]methanol in the cell-free medium from treated cells.