Protein rings are critical to the remarkable signaling properties of bacterial chemotaxis nanoarrays.

Bacteria build an extensive sensory nanoarray to collect information that guides their swimming. In this issue of Science Signaling , Piñas et al. demonstrate that a key element of these arrays that enhances chemotaxis responses are hexameric rings of CheW, one of two types of rings that couple the responses of core signaling units to achieve remarkable signaling properties such as single-molecule detection.