Formation, collective motion, and merging of macroscopic bacterial aggregates.
Chemotactic bacteria form emergent spatial patterns of variable cell density within cultures that are initially spatially uniform. These patterns are the result of chemical gradients that are created from the directed movement and metabolic activity of billions of cells. A recent study on pattern fo...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2022-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS Computational Biology |
| Online Access: | https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009153&type=printable |
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| author | George Courcoubetis Manasi S Gangan Sean Lim Xiaokan Guo Stephan Haas James Q Boedicker |
| author_facet | George Courcoubetis Manasi S Gangan Sean Lim Xiaokan Guo Stephan Haas James Q Boedicker |
| author_sort | George Courcoubetis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Chemotactic bacteria form emergent spatial patterns of variable cell density within cultures that are initially spatially uniform. These patterns are the result of chemical gradients that are created from the directed movement and metabolic activity of billions of cells. A recent study on pattern formation in wild bacterial isolates has revealed unique collective behaviors of the bacteria Enterobacter cloacae. As in other bacterial species, Enterobacter cloacae form macroscopic aggregates. Once formed, these bacterial clusters can migrate several millimeters, sometimes resulting in the merging of two or more clusters. To better understand these phenomena, we examine the formation and dynamics of thousands of bacterial clusters that form within a 22 cm square culture dish filled with soft agar over two days. At the macroscale, the aggregates display spatial order at short length scales, and the migration of cell clusters is superdiffusive, with a merging acceleration that is correlated with aggregate size. At the microscale, aggregates are composed of immotile cells surrounded by low density regions of motile cells. The collective movement of the aggregates is the result of an asymmetric flux of bacteria at the boundary. An agent-based model is developed to examine how these phenomena are the result of both chemotactic movement and a change in motility at high cell density. These results identify and characterize a new mechanism for collective bacterial motility driven by a transient, density-dependent change in motility. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-aab13e6332fa44ab9b8a43498279b68b |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1553-734X 1553-7358 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS Computational Biology |
| spelling | doaj-art-aab13e6332fa44ab9b8a43498279b68b2025-08-20T02:02:13ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Computational Biology1553-734X1553-73582022-01-01181e100915310.1371/journal.pcbi.1009153Formation, collective motion, and merging of macroscopic bacterial aggregates.George CourcoubetisManasi S GanganSean LimXiaokan GuoStephan HaasJames Q BoedickerChemotactic bacteria form emergent spatial patterns of variable cell density within cultures that are initially spatially uniform. These patterns are the result of chemical gradients that are created from the directed movement and metabolic activity of billions of cells. A recent study on pattern formation in wild bacterial isolates has revealed unique collective behaviors of the bacteria Enterobacter cloacae. As in other bacterial species, Enterobacter cloacae form macroscopic aggregates. Once formed, these bacterial clusters can migrate several millimeters, sometimes resulting in the merging of two or more clusters. To better understand these phenomena, we examine the formation and dynamics of thousands of bacterial clusters that form within a 22 cm square culture dish filled with soft agar over two days. At the macroscale, the aggregates display spatial order at short length scales, and the migration of cell clusters is superdiffusive, with a merging acceleration that is correlated with aggregate size. At the microscale, aggregates are composed of immotile cells surrounded by low density regions of motile cells. The collective movement of the aggregates is the result of an asymmetric flux of bacteria at the boundary. An agent-based model is developed to examine how these phenomena are the result of both chemotactic movement and a change in motility at high cell density. These results identify and characterize a new mechanism for collective bacterial motility driven by a transient, density-dependent change in motility.https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009153&type=printable |
| spellingShingle | George Courcoubetis Manasi S Gangan Sean Lim Xiaokan Guo Stephan Haas James Q Boedicker Formation, collective motion, and merging of macroscopic bacterial aggregates. PLoS Computational Biology |
| title | Formation, collective motion, and merging of macroscopic bacterial aggregates. |
| title_full | Formation, collective motion, and merging of macroscopic bacterial aggregates. |
| title_fullStr | Formation, collective motion, and merging of macroscopic bacterial aggregates. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Formation, collective motion, and merging of macroscopic bacterial aggregates. |
| title_short | Formation, collective motion, and merging of macroscopic bacterial aggregates. |
| title_sort | formation collective motion and merging of macroscopic bacterial aggregates |
| url | https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009153&type=printable |
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