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Instability of waves formed by motile bacteria
A B Medvinsky1, M A Tsyganov, V P Kutyshenko
1Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Biophysics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino, Moscow.
FEMS Microbiology Letters
|September 15, 1993
Summary
Bacterial population waves, driven by chemotaxis, can spontaneously form arc-shaped bursts. Initially, cells in these bursts are longer but then return to the parent population
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Biophysics
- Mathematical Biology
Background:
- Motile bacteria like Escherichia coli form circular population waves in semisolid media.
- These waves are driven by chemotaxis, the movement of organisms in response to a chemical stimulus.
- The regular shape of these waves is attributed to the uniform distribution of nutrients acting as attractants.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the spontaneous disturbance of regular bacterial population waves.
- To characterize the formation and properties of arc-shaped population waves, termed 'bursts'.
Main Methods:
- Observation of bacterial population dynamics in semisolid nutrient media.
- Analysis of cell morphology within developing population waves and bursts.
Main Results:
- Regular circular bacterial population waves can exhibit spontaneous shape disturbances.
- Arc-shaped population waves ('bursts') are formed during these disturbances.
- Cells forming bursts initially show increased mean length compared to the parent population, subsequently decreasing to the parent population's characteristic length.
Conclusions:
- Bacterial population wave morphology is not always stable and can be spontaneously disrupted.
- The formation of bursts involves dynamic changes in cell length.
- These findings provide insights into the complex behaviors of bacterial populations driven by chemotaxis.