Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Adherens Junctions

Adherens Junctions

Strong contact points between adjacent cells anchor them to each other, forming tissues. Such anchoring junctions are of two types – adherens junctions and desmosomes. Adherens junctions are abundant in tissues such as epithelium and endothelium, forming a continuous zone of adhesion called the adhesion belt. In other tissues, such as heart muscle, they appear as clusters, linking the cells to produce coordinated heart muscle contraction.
Adherens Junctions are Dynamic

Types of Membrane Protrusions

Types of Membrane Protrusions

The protrusion of the cell surface is an initial step for several cellular processes, including cell migration, phagocytosis, and neurite outgrowth. These membrane protrusions are a result of cytoskeletal rearrangement. The most widely observed cell protrusions include lamellipodia, pseudopodia, filopodia, microvilli, invadopodia, and podosomes. These protrusions can be of two types — static or dynamic.
The microvilli, an example of stable protrusions, are finger-like projections...

Intracellular Movement of Viruses and Bacteria

Intracellular Movement of Viruses and Bacteria

Intracellular bacteria and viruses often comprise a group of highly infectious pathogens that can cause several diseases. Bacterial pathogens include those belonging to the genus Rickettsia responsible for conditions such as rocky mountain spotted fever and the Mediterranean spotted fever; Chlamydia, a genus responsible for a sexually transmitted disease; Coxiella burnetii, an agent responsible for Q fever. Viral pathogens include vaccinia—a poxvirus, and herpes simplex virus—a...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Actuation of Cell Layers in Three Dimensions.

Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)·2026

Same author

Initiation of swarming in <i>Bacillus subtilis</i> as a resolution for the sorites paradox in bacteria.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026

Same author

Topology changes of <i>Hydra</i> define actin orientation defects as organizers of morphogenesis.

Science advances·2025

Same author

Extended Temperature Range of the Ice-Binding Protein Activity.

Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids·2024

Same author

Schooling of light reflecting fish.

PloS one·2023

Same author

Detecting and characterizing phase transitions in active matter using entropy.

Soft matter·2023

Same journal

Steady and oscillatory propulsion in reactive swimming droplets.

Soft matter·2026

Same journal

Axial forces in capillary liquid bridges of polymer solutions.

Soft matter·2026

Same journal

Dual-mode pH-programmable enzymatic hydrogel system for on-demand glucose generation.

Soft matter·2026

Same journal

Loading iron(III)porphyrin as the gas/anion binding site into methylated β-cyclodextrin-incorporated polymer hydrogels.

Soft matter·2026

Same journal

Disorder-induced persistent random motion and trapping of microswimmers.

Soft matter·2026

Same journal

Metal-ion induced coacervation of a short peptide under acidic conditions.

Soft matter·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 26, 2025

Quantifying Bacterial Surface Swarming Motility on Inducer Gradient Plates

Quantifying Bacterial Surface Swarming Motility on Inducer Gradient Plates

Published on: January 5, 2022

Topological defects in multi-layered swarming bacteria.

Victor Yashunsky¹, Daniel J G Pearce², Gil Ariel³

¹The Swiss Institute for Dryland Environmental and Energy Research, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, 84990 Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel. yashunsk@bgu.ac.il.

|May 15, 2024

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

This study reveals that the dynamics of swarming bacteria align with 2D active nematic theory, despite complex multi-layered structures. Bacterial swarms exhibit suppressed long-range density fluctuations, a characteristic known as hyperuniformity.

More Related Videos

Preparation, Imaging, and Quantification of Bacterial Surface Motility Assays

Preparation, Imaging, and Quantification of Bacterial Surface Motility Assays

Published on: April 7, 2015

Monitoring Spatial Segregation in Surface Colonizing Microbial Populations

Monitoring Spatial Segregation in Surface Colonizing Microbial Populations

Published on: October 29, 2016

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 26, 2025

Quantifying Bacterial Surface Swarming Motility on Inducer Gradient Plates

Quantifying Bacterial Surface Swarming Motility on Inducer Gradient Plates

Published on: January 5, 2022

Preparation, Imaging, and Quantification of Bacterial Surface Motility Assays

Preparation, Imaging, and Quantification of Bacterial Surface Motility Assays

Published on: April 7, 2015

Monitoring Spatial Segregation in Surface Colonizing Microbial Populations

Monitoring Spatial Segregation in Surface Colonizing Microbial Populations

Published on: October 29, 2016

Area of Science:

Physics of active matter
Microbiology
Complex systems

Background:

Topological defects are crucial in active systems.
Bacterial swarms exhibit complex, multi-layered dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

To experimentally investigate topological defects and flow patterns in swarming bacteria.
To compare experimental findings with predictions from 2D active nematics theory.
To analyze the impact of multi-layered structures on swarm dynamics.

Main Methods:

Experimental observation of rapid bacterial swarming dynamics.
Analysis of flow patterns around topological defects.
Comparison of experimental data with theoretical models of 2D active nematics.

Main Results:

Bacterial swarm dynamics agree with 2D active nematics theory, even with deviations from theoretical assumptions.
A strong coupling between different layers of the bacterial swarm was identified.
The defect-charge density in bacterial swarms was found to be hyperuniform, suppressing long-range density fluctuations.

Conclusions:

2D active nematics theory provides a valuable framework for understanding bacterial swarms.
The multi-layered structure and layer coupling are key features of natural bacterial colonies.
Hyperuniformity of defect-charge density is a significant emergent property of bacterial swarming.