[The colony architectonics in Bacillus subtilis 2335]

Colonies grown from vegetative B. subtilis 2335 cells had a standard structure, with bacillar cells occupying the whole colony volume. At the same time, the colonies of this bacterium grown from germinated spores had an abnormal structure characterized by the location of cells in a surface layer 100-200 microns thick at the colony boundary with the air. The glycocalyx of the colonies grown from spores was characterized by a wetting angle theta e of 120 degrees-160 degrees, whereas that of the colonies grown from vegetative cells had an angle theta e as low as 5 degrees-30 degrees. It is suggested that spores and vegetative cells follow different strategies of substrate colonization and that the architectonics of bacterial colonies is determined by the physicochemical properties of the glycocalyx.