title: Patterning of mutually interacting bacterial bodies: close contacts and airborne signals.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Bacterial bodies (colonies) can develop complex patterns of color and structure. These patterns may arise as a result of both colony-autonomous developmental and regulatory processes (self-patterning) and environmental influences, including those generated by neighbor bodies. We have studied the interplay of intra-colony signaling (self-patterning) and inter-colony influences in related clones of Serratia rubidaea grown on rich media.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Colonies are shaped by both autonomous patterning and by signals generated by co-habitants of the morphogenetic space, mediating both internal shaping of the body, and communication between bodies sharing the same living space. The result of development is affected by the overall distribution of neighbors in the dish. The neighbors' presence is communicated via at least two putative signals, while additional signals may be involved in generating some unusual patterns observed upon encounters of different clones. A formal model accounting for some aspects of colony morphogenesis and inter-colony interactions is proposed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The complex patterns of color and texture observed in Serratia rubidaea colonies may be based on at least two signals produced by cells, one of them diffusing through the substrate (agar) and the other carried by a volatile compound and absorbed into the substrate. Differences between clones with regard to the interpretation of signals may result from different sensitivity to signal threshold(s).
authors.affiliation: Department of Philosophy and History of Science, Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Science, Praha, Czechia.
authors.forename: Jaroslav J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Cepl
authors.forename: Irena
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Pátková
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Blahůsková
authors.forename: Fatima
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cvrcková
authors.forename: Anton
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Markos
mesh_terms: D003116:Color; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D010860:Pigments, Biological / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D012705:Serratia / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013312:Stress, Physiological
chemical_list: D010860:Pigments, Biological
references.citation: Nat Rev Microbiol. 2006 Aug;4(8):597-607
references.pmid: 16845430
references.citation: Annu Rev Microbiol. 2009;63:99-118
references.pmid: 19566421
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1999 Apr 27;96(9):5031-6
references.pmid: 10220413
references.citation: Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2009 Feb;79(2 Pt 2):026202
references.pmid: 19391815
references.citation: Mol Biol Cell. 2002 Nov;13(11):3901-14
references.pmid: 12429834
references.citation: Curr Biol. 2009 Feb 24;19(4):341-5
references.pmid: 19230668
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2004 Nov 23;101(47):16630-5
references.pmid: 15546998
references.citation: PLoS Biol. 2007 Oct 30;5(11):e302
references.pmid: 18044986
references.citation: Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2007 Jul 29;362(1483):1115-7
references.pmid: 17360281
references.citation: Appl Environ Microbiol. 2007 Jul;73(13):4100-9
references.pmid: 17483266
references.citation: J R Soc Interface. 2009 Nov 6;6(40):959-78
references.pmid: 19674996
references.citation: Bioessays. 1994 Oct;16(10):715-7
references.pmid: 7980475
references.citation: Trends Microbiol. 2009 May;17(5):189-95
references.pmid: 19375323
references.citation: Math Biosci. 2006 May;201(1-2):184-94
references.pmid: 16466755
references.citation: Mikrobiologiia. 2002 Jan-Feb;71(1):59-65
references.pmid: 11910809
references.citation: Microbiology (Reading). 1998 Dec;144 ( Pt 12):3275-3287
references.pmid: 9884219
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Jul 25;103(30):11358-63
references.pmid: 16849424
references.citation: Stud Hist Philos Biol Biomed Sci. 2007 Dec;38(4):807-19
references.pmid: 18053935
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Jan 13;106(2):428-33
references.pmid: 19129489
references.citation: Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2001 Mar;63(3 Pt 1):031908
references.pmid: 11308679
references.citation: BMC Microbiol. 2009 Jun 12;9:124
references.pmid: 19523213
references.citation: Mol Microbiol. 2001 Apr;40(1):156-68
references.pmid: 11298283
references.citation: J Bacteriol. 2007 Jan;189(1):119-30
references.pmid: 17071749
references.citation: FEMS Microbiol Rev. 2007 Jul;31(4):407-24
references.pmid: 17459113
references.citation: Trends Microbiol. 2004 Aug;12(8):366-72
references.pmid: 15276612
references.citation: Biophys J. 2009 Aug 5;97(3):688-98
references.pmid: 19651027
references.citation: J Math Biol. 2006 Jan;52(1):93-114
references.pmid: 16283413
references.citation: Commun Integr Biol. 2008;1(1):78-87
references.pmid: 19513204
references.citation: Annu Rev Genet. 2009;43:197-222
references.pmid: 19686078
references.citation: Phys Biol. 2004 Jun;1(1-2):P14-22
references.pmid: 16204813
references.citation: ACS Chem Biol. 2007 Nov 20;2(11):715-7
references.pmid: 18030987
references.citation: Curr Opin Microbiol. 2009 Apr;12(2):177-81
references.pmid: 19246237
references.citation: BMC Biol. 2008 May 14;6:20
references.pmid: 18479522
references.citation: Environ Microbiol. 2007 Oct;9(10):2486-95
references.pmid: 17803774
references.citation: Trends Ecol Evol. 2001 Apr 1;16(4):178-183
references.pmid: 11245940
references.citation: Nat Rev Microbiol. 2006 Apr;4(4):249-58
references.pmid: 16501584
references.citation: Curr Opin Microbiol. 2009 Apr;12(2):192-8
references.pmid: 19318290
references.citation: Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2007 Jul 29;362(1483):1119-34
references.pmid: 17360280
references.citation: Appl Environ Microbiol. 2006 May;72(5):3615-25
references.pmid: 16672510
references.citation: PLoS One. 2009 Aug 17;4(8):e6655
references.pmid: 19684853
references.citation: Mol Biosyst. 2008 Mar;4(3):192-8
references.pmid: 18437261
references.citation: Nature. 2007 Nov 15;450(7168):411-4
references.pmid: 18004383
references.citation: J Appl Microbiol. 2002;92(6):1116-22
references.pmid: 12010552