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Swarming bacteria migrate by Lévy Walk
Gil Ariel1, Amit Rabani2, Sivan Benisty2
1Department of Mathematics, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 52000, Israel.
Nature Communications
|September 26, 2015
Summary
Bacteria swarms exhibit super-diffusion, moving in Lévy walks, a strategy potentially evolved much earlier than previously believed. This collective motion differs significantly from individual bacterial movement.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Biophysics
- Collective behavior
Background:
- Individual bacteria optimize movement for survival and resource acquisition.
- Bacterial swarms exhibit complex, large-scale collective motion over surfaces, involving millions to billions of cells.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the motion dynamics of individual bacteria within dense swarms.
- To determine if bacterial swarming behavior follows known models of diffusion or exhibits unique patterns.
Main Methods:
- Tracking fluorescently labeled individual bacteria within dense swarms.
- Analyzing bacterial trajectories to characterize their diffusive behavior.
Main Results:
- Bacteria within swarms exhibit super-diffusion, a characteristic of Lévy walks.
- Lévy walks are defined by extended straight-line motion segments and infinite variance.
Conclusions:
- Bacterial swarming behavior is consistent with Lévy walks, suggesting a sophisticated navigation strategy.
- The presence of Lévy walk dynamics in bacterial swarms indicates this movement strategy may have ancient evolutionary origins.