[1] The discovery of aerotaxis was first reported by Theodor Wilhelm Engelmann, as he showed microaerophilic Spirillum tenue were attracted by low oxygen concentrations.
Ten decades after the first discovery of this movement, it was observed that bacteria are actually bound to areas with optimal oxygen concentrations; resulting in the formation of bands.
It was concluded that the creations of these bands was largely in part to oxygen's important role in metabolic pathways as they allowed for surveying aerotaxis in many bacterial species.
The direction of travel is determined utilizing a transducer, such as Aer or Tsr proteins in E. coli, which detect changes in either electron transport or proton motive force.
[4] Aerotaxis, similar to other types of bacterial taxis, involves repeated cycles of straight-line swimming followed by short reversals that reorient bacteria so that they are constantly drawn up their oxygen gradients toward attractants and away from repellants.