A toolbox for chemotaxis assay adapted to Leptospira spp. has emerged in the recent years: soft agar assay, capillary assay, and videomicroscopy tracking. Those methods allow to demonstrate chemotaxis defect, identify diverse chemoattractants, or decipher motile behavior quantitatively. These experiments have demonstrated a role of motility and potentially chemotaxis in leptospirosis pathogenesis. We describe extensively the methods and provide the key steps to use this toolbox.
Keywords: Capillary assay; Chemotaxis; Leptospira interrogans; Leptospirosis; Motility; Videomicroscopy.