Paenibacillus dendritiformis bacterial colony growth depends on surfactant but not on bacterial motion.
Most research on growing bacterial colonies on agar plates has concerned the effect of genetic or morphotype variation. Some studies have indicated that there is a correlation between microscopic bacterial motion and macroscopic colonial expansion, especially for swarming strains, but no measurements have been obtained for a single strain to relate the microscopic scale to the macroscopic scale. We examined here a single strain (Paenibacillus dendritiformis type T; tip splitting) to determine both the macroscopic growth of colonies and the microscopic bacterial motion within the colonies. Our multiscale measurements for a variety of growth conditions revealed that motion on the microscopic scale and colonial growth are largely independent. Instead, the growth of the colony is strongly affected by the availability of a surfactant that reduces surface tension.
Be'er
Avraham
A
Center for Nonlinear Dynamics and Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA. beerav@gmail.com
Smith
Rachel S
RS
Zhang
H P
HP
Florin
E-L
EL
Payne
Shelley M
SM
Swinney
Harry L
HL
D000362:Agar; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D003470:Culture Media; D016937:Gram-Positive Endospore-Forming Rods / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology*; D008858:Microscopy, Phase-Contrast; D009068:Movement / Q000187:drug effects; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology*
D003470:Culture Media; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; D000362:Agar