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Updated: May 4, 2026

Recording Multicellular Behavior in Myxococcus xanthus Biofilms using Time-lapse Microcinematography
Published on: August 7, 2010
Rippling of myxobacteria
1Department of Physics, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-3112, USA.
Abstract:
Myxobacteria colonies during their aggregation phase propagate complex waves over their surface. These waves are fundamentally different from the analogous phenomenon in diffusion-reaction systems or in populations of Dictyostelium discoideum where colliding waves annhilate. Myxobacterial waves appear to pass through one another, analogous to solitons. Moreover, individual bacteria oscillate back and forth, exhibiting no net mass transfer. A mathematical model can explain virtually all of the experimentally observed properties of these waves and draw several conclusions about the properties of the intercelular signaling system.
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