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Related Experiment Videos

Accordion waves in Myxococcus xanthus.

Oleksii Sliusarenko1, John Neu, David R Zusman

  • 1Departments of Cell and Molecular Biology and Mathematics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|January 25, 2006
PubMed
Summary

Myxococcus xanthus bacteria exhibit unique "accordion" waves during starvation. Cell collisions synchronize internal oscillators, leading to collective, organized movement patterns.

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Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Biophysics
  • Systems Biology

Background:

  • Myxococcus xanthus are Gram-negative bacteria known for gliding motility.
  • These bacteria exhibit complex collective behaviors, including density waves, when starved.
  • Individual cell movement is characterized by periodic reversals, suggesting an internal oscillator.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the mechanisms underlying the formation and behavior of "accordion" waves in Myxococcus xanthus.
  • To elucidate how individual cell oscillators synchronize to produce collective spatial patterns.
  • To understand the role of cell-cell signaling in coordinating bacterial movement.

Main Methods:

  • Experimental observation of individual Myxococcus xanthus cells labeled with GFP within unlabeled populations.

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  • Development and application of an agent-based computational model.
  • Analysis of cell-cell signaling dynamics, particularly asymmetric contact-induced signaling.

    • Main Results:

    • Accordion waves, characterized by reflection upon collision, were observed and replicated.
    • A biochemical limit cycle controlling direction reversals and asymmetric cell-cell signaling (head-to-head stronger than head-to-tail) are sufficient to explain ripple patterns.
    • Individual cell oscillators, though variable, synchronize through collisions, leading to less variable collective behavior.

    Conclusions:

    • Cell-cell collisions and asymmetric signaling synchronize individual bacterial oscillators to generate collective morphogenetic patterns.
    • The findings provide insights into how populations of interacting oscillators achieve synchronization and spatial organization.
    • The study suggests potential parallels between bacterial collective behavior and pattern formation in higher organisms.