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Effect of Cell Aspect Ratio on Swarming Bacteria
Bella Ilkanaiv1, Daniel B Kearns2, Gil Ariel3
1Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus 84990, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel.
Physical Review Letters
|April 29, 2017
Summary
Bacterial swarming motility is optimized at specific cell lengths. Deviations in cell aspect ratio from the wild-type Bacillus subtilis result in decreased collective motion and anomalous statistical behaviors, impacting swarming dynamics.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Biophysics
- Collective behavior
Background:
- Swarming bacteria exhibit complex collective migration patterns on surfaces.
- Cell elongation and aspect ratio are hypothesized to influence bacterial collective dynamics.
- Previous studies on rod-like particles suggest elongation enhances alignment and motility.
Purpose of the Study:
- To experimentally investigate the impact of cell aspect ratio on the collective dynamics of swarming Bacillus subtilis.
- To determine how variations in cell length affect swarming statistics and motility.
- To identify the optimal cell aspect ratio for efficient bacterial swarming.
Main Methods:
- Culturing and analyzing variants of Bacillus subtilis with differing cell lengths.
- Observing and quantifying swarming behavior on surfaces.
- Analyzing swarming statistics, including motion, alignment, and autocorrelation functions.
Main Results:
- Swarming motility is critically dependent on cell aspect ratio.
- Wild-type and similarly sized Bacillus subtilis variants showed the fastest collective motion.
- Shorter and longer cells displayed non-Gaussian statistics and reduced collective motility, indicating anomalous dynamics.
Conclusions:
- Cell aspect ratio plays a fundamental role in bacterial swarming efficiency.
- Deviations from optimal cell length lead to decreased collective motility and altered statistical properties.
- Robust mechanisms for maintaining specific cell aspect ratios are likely crucial for efficient swarming in Bacillus subtilis.
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