An Inexpensive Imaging Platform to Record and Quantitate Bacterial Swarming

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Biophysics

Background:

• Bacterial swarming is a coordinated motility on semi-solid surfaces with implications for antibiotic resistance and collective behavior.
• Existing commercial equipment for observing swarm expansion is expensive and often lacks controlled conditions, leading to reproducibility issues.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe a reliable and economical protocol for reproducible bacterial swarming assays using time-lapse photography.
• To develop a homemade, environment-controlled incubator for monitoring swarming behavior.

Main Methods:

• Construction of a "homemade," environment-controlled photographing incubator.
• Performing bacterial swarming assays under controlled conditions.
• Calculating swarming rates from time-lapse photography.

Main Results:

• The described protocol enables reproducible bacterial swarming assays.
• The homemade incubator is economical, easy to operate, and ensures accurate environmental control.
• The system is applicable to other slowly evolving biological processes like biofilm formation and fungal growth.

Conclusions:

• This protocol provides a robust and affordable method for studying bacterial swarming.
• The developed incubator system enhances reproducibility and accuracy in motility assays.
• The adaptable system can be utilized for diverse research applications requiring controlled environmental monitoring.