CheA, CheW, and CheY are required for chemotaxis to oxygen and sugars of the phosphotransferase system in Escherichia coli.

We carried out studies with Escherichia coli to determine the site at which the methylation-independent pathways for taxis to oxygen and to sugars of the phosphoenolpyruvate:sugar phosphotransferase transport system converge with the methylation-dependent chemotaxis pathways. Using genetic reconstitution of the pathways in a null strain, we determined that all pathways examined required the products of the genes cheA, cheW, and cheY. Thus, we conclude that both the methylation-independent and methylation-dependent pathways converge at CheA, the histidine kinase product of cheA.