Work

Multicellular Self-Organization of P. aeruginosa due to Interactions with Secreted Trails

Year: 2016

Type: article

Abstract: Guided movement in response to slowly diffusing polymeric trails provides a unique mechanism for self-organization of some microorganisms. To elucidate how this signaling route leads to microcolony formation, we experimentally probe the trajectory and orientation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa that propel themselves on a surface using type IV pili motility appendages, which preferentially attach to deposited exopolysaccharides. We construct a stochastic model by analyzing single-bacterium trajectories and show that the resulting theoretical prediction for the many-body behavior of the bacteria is in quantitative agreement with our experimental characterization of how cells explore the surface via a power-law strategy.

Source: Physical Review Letters

DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.117.178102

Authors: Anatolij Gelimson, Kun Zhao, Calvin K. Lee, W. Till Kranz, Gerard C. L. Wong, Ramin Golestanian

Institutions: University of Oxford, California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Tianjin University

Language: English

Topic: Bacterial biofilms and quorum sensing

Subfield: Molecular Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green