This has nothing to do with the post, I just wanted everyone else to be as bored as me
E. coli can sense a variety of amino acids, sugars and dipeptides, as well as pH, temperature and redox state using five types of receptors. Most abundant and best studied receptors are those for aspartate (Tar) and serine (Tsr). Receptors anchor the complex in the inner membrane and transmit signals from the periplasmic ligand binding domain to the cytoplasmic part. The cytoplasmic part of the receptor dimer is a four-helix bundle, with highly conserved domain containing four to six specific glutamate residues that are methylated by CheR and demethylated by CheB. The receptor homodimers are organized in trimers by interaction at their helical hairpin tips, and trimers form the minimum functional units. Receptors are predicted to be organized in large allosteric clusters of at least 25 homodimers (Sourjik and Berg, 2004), and these clusters form a high-order structure of thousands of receptors localized at the cell poles.
(Applebite Uh! A cow!, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:12, 4 replies, latest was 15 years ago)

That's almost as boring
as having to try and remember which senators were pro-Pompey and which were pro-Caesar
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:13, Reply)

This isn't even that bad
You should see the huge chunks of texts I have to learn about which proteins phosphporlyate or methylate or active or inhibit other proteins and what order they do it in and what their favourite films are and whether or not they enjoy sunsets and walks on the beach.
(Applebite Uh! A cow!, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:17, Reply)

I thought I was badly off.
You poor soul.
( Lampito rise with the moon, go to bed with the sun, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:18, Reply)

Whereas I only have to contend with reading emails about a guy who clearly cannot cope with his wife's terminal illness
Sent a few months before he killed her then tried to kill himself.
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:21, Reply)

Oh dear lord this gets worse and worse.
I just have people running round and round in circles before stabbing each other. In Latin.
( Lampito rise with the moon, go to bed with the sun, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:23, Reply)

It's alright, I'm nearly finished here
Then I have a nice break during which I have to train other people in Mac forensics.
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:24, Reply)

Is it "Ring up Steve Jobs"
BECAUSE HE KEEPS ALL YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION IN HIS EVIL LAIR!!!!!
(PsychoChomp, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:29, Reply)

I've been to Apple HQ. They serve lovely food.
And no.
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:32, Reply)

When did you come to my house and why don't I remember this?

(Applebite Uh! A cow!, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:33, Reply)

I've been in your (Manchester) house.
I miss you, come down again soon. I'll clean the house for you.
( Lampito rise with the moon, go to bed with the sun, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:35, Reply)

So has Kitty.
I miss you too dear, I will do my best.
(Applebite Uh! A cow!, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:41, Reply)

Your occasional texts light up my life no end.
We should have a gossip session when your exams are out of the way, I can update you as to why I made my best friend's mum choke on her drink with laughter and other such jolities.
( Lampito rise with the moon, go to bed with the sun, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:42, Reply)

It's not all about you
And couscous isn't lovely food.
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:37, Reply)

Don't be silly, of course it is.
I eat more than just that you know. And I'm actually a pretty good cook.
(Applebite Uh! A cow!, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:39, Reply)

I doubt I'll ever get to verify that
So will just take your word for that.
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:40, Reply)

she eats houmous as well

( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:55, Reply)

*shakes head slowly*

( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:57, Reply)

He learnt from the best.

(PsychoChomp, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:37, Reply)

This makes me want to rip my own cock off and throw it down a well

( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:38, Reply)

Be sure to youtube it.

(PsychoChomp, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:42, Reply)

I would rather do this than that to be honest.
At least you don't have to learn it all off by heart though
(Applebite Uh! A cow!, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:26, Reply)

True, in fact it's much better if I don't ;)

( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:27, Reply)

for some reason (maybe the pain killers)
I read that as killed her then tried to eat himself

Maybe I should have some toast
( TGB checking Off Topic is still shit at, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:26, Reply)

Why are you on pain killers?
I'll punch you if you say "because I'm in pain".
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:28, Reply)

I slipped getting into the bath for a shower this morning
slamming my knee (yes the bad one) into the top of the bath and a small minjury may have occured although in all fairness I was very lucky to retrieve the shower gel, shampoo and basin
( TGB checking Off Topic is still shit at, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:31, Reply)

I want you to know that I'm saddened by your injury
And the only reason I'm laughing is because of the small voice bit.
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:33, Reply)

haha, "minjury". I done spat my tea.

I am very sorry for your poor abused mimsy
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:57, Reply)

Mehehehe...."Homodimers"

(LongJohnBaldry, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:14, Reply)

Of course, you wouldn't be interested in CheBs

( Lampito rise with the moon, go to bed with the sun, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:17, Reply)

I am
But not CheR's CheBs.
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:18, Reply)

So what are CheR and CheB?
("Wife of Sonny" is not an acceptable answer for the first one)
(LongJohnBaldry, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:17, Reply)

A methylation enzyme and its counteracting partner
There's also CheA, CheY, CheYp, CheW, and CheZ
For one mechanism.

I hate proteins.
(Applebite Uh! A cow!, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:20, Reply)

So how does this work?
The receptors are on the outside, and capture "the complex" (presumably aspartate/serine, etc.?) before drawing it into the membrane...does the cell then absorb these complexes, or does it just "tell" the cytoplasmic part about what it's found?
(LongJohnBaldry, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:25, Reply)

I have no idea.
But I probably should.
If you're genuinely interested, I can link you to the review if you like
(Applebite Uh! A cow!, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:27, Reply)

I expect most of it would go over my head, but thanks all the same
It has been some years since I came close to anything biochemical. Just thought I'd humour you for a bit as it's usually helps learning these things if you talk about them to someone else. Even if this means you end up basically having a conversation with yourself whilst they nod politely and start to worry.
(LongJohnBaldry, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:30, Reply)

not as such
they methylate or demethylate some residues (slips my mind which) on an internal protein complex in response to the presence or absense of "stuff" outside the cell - the complex acts through the cell membrane - and the level of methylation allows the cell a brief "memory", effectively, of the concentration of "stuff" outside the cell, so the cell can sense concentration gradients in "stuff" and know if it is moving itself towards or away from the "stuff" - which helps for foods and toxins.

/biochemistry of "stuff" and "moving" by TMB, aged 35 1/3.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:44, Reply)

They are an antagonistic pair
a methylesterase and a methyltransferase, involved in chemotaxis. (that's cells moving themselves around in response to chemical stimuli, usually to "chase" food, if you really care ;)
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:37, Reply)

I win
I shouldn't have copied and pasted that.
(PsychoChomp, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:14, Reply)

oh thanks that's not at all annoying

( TGB checking Off Topic is still shit at, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:15, Reply)

eh?

(Applebite Uh! A cow!, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:18, Reply)

I just copied and pasted what I was working on
which was basically a list of a few hundred numbers and dates.
(PsychoChomp, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:19, Reply)

Ah, you must have deleted it before I saw it

(Applebite Uh! A cow!, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:21, Reply)

Yeah it had some info that I really really shouldn't have pasted.

(PsychoChomp, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:22, Reply)

I print screened it
How much is it worth?
( TGB checking Off Topic is still shit at, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:23, Reply)

Possibly my job.

(PsychoChomp, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:24, Reply)

better start being nice to me then

( TGB checking Off Topic is still shit at, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:24, Reply)

That's not going to happen
anyway you'd need to know a lot about the data to find the problem info.
(PsychoChomp, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:25, Reply)

I'll just email it to your boss "look what chompy sent me!"
PS: he also rapes cows
( TGB checking Off Topic is still shit at, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:28, Reply)

Surely you're in straight forward breach of the data protection act
GROSS MISCONDUCT
( Light In Chains maker of the ikea sofa, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:28, Reply)

they wouldn't give a stuff about data protection
they'd just go for instant dismissal on the grounds of:

breach of internet useage policy
breach of confidentiality
breach of mutual duty of trust and confidence

all our taxes pay his salary anyway though, so we're not really any better off if you put him on the dole.
( rachelswipe with a fork, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:30, Reply)

Yeah there's probably twenty different areas in his employee handbook that would fuck him over
he clearly needs the services of INTERNETLAWYERMAN
( Light In Chains maker of the ikea sofa, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:32, Reply)

and being a rapist.

( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:45, Reply)

Quite a successful one in all fairness he's never been caught

( Light In Chains maker of the ikea sofa, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:50, Reply)

shouldn't have
OH you changed it. I saw though I SAW you wrote shouldn't OF
( TGB checking Off Topic is still shit at, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:20, Reply)

That's what I said spastic.

(PsychoChomp, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:21, Reply)

Once upon a time that would have meant something to me
but now I'm scratching my head thinking "Amino Acids...that rings a bell".

Time makes fools of us all. Especially me.
( Colonel Dracula Two manky hookers and a racist dwarf, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:16, Reply)

Chemotaxis and flagella mechanisms in bacteria, baby.

(Applebite Uh! A cow!, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:18, Reply)

As noble as it is that there are separate vehicles for cancer patients
I don't see how you can get your jollies from whipping machinery.
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:19, Reply)

revisionlols

(Applebite Uh! A cow!, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:22, Reply)

I was once praised for my Gram staining by a professor of Microbiology
I refrained from telling him that I had been staining things for years
( Colonel Dracula Two manky hookers and a racist dwarf, Wed 12 Jan 2011, 14:24, Reply)