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Confinement discerns swarmers from planktonic bacteria.

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  • 1Department of Physics, Brown University, Providence, United States.

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Bacterial swarming and planktonic cells show distinct movement patterns in microwells. Swarming bacteria form single swirls, while planktonic cells create multiple swirls, aiding in distinguishing these collective behaviors.

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Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Biophysics
  • Active Matter Physics

Background:

  • Bacterial swarming, a collective motion on surfaces, is crucial for virulence and pathogenesis.
  • Swarming involves physical changes like cell elongation and hyper-flagellation.
  • Differences in collective motion between swarming and planktonic bacteria are not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To differentiate bacterial swarming from collective swimming using confinement.
  • To investigate the distinct motion patterns of swarming versus planktonic bacteria.
  • To explore bacterial collective motion in complex environments.

Main Methods:

  • Confining bacterial movement in circular microwells of varying sizes.
  • Utilizing a novel bacterial strain, *Enterobacter* sp. SM3.
  • Employing numerical simulations to model cell-cell interactions.
  • Observing bacterial swarming on murine intestinal surfaces using PDMS microchip arrays.

Main Results:

  • Swarming and planktonic *Enterobacter* sp. SM3 exhibited different motion patterns in microwells (40-90 μm diameter).
  • Swarming SM3 formed single-swirl patterns, while planktonic SM3 formed multiple swirls.
  • Similar differential behavior was observed in other gram-negative bacteria; 'rafting behavior' in swarming cells was noted.

Conclusions:

  • Microwell confinement effectively distinguishes bacterial swarming from collective swimming.
  • Stronger cell-cell alignment interactions in swarming cells explain observed motion patterns.
  • The study proposes a novel method for characterizing bacterial swarming in complex and in vivo environments.