Multicellular Self-Organization of P. aeruginosa due to Interactions with Secreted Trails.
Guided movement in response to slowly diffusing polymeric trails provides a unique mechanism for self-organization of some microorganisms. To elucidate how this signaling route leads to microcolony formation, we experimentally probe the trajectory and orientation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa that propel themselves on a surface using type IV pili motility appendages, which preferentially attach to deposited exopolysaccharides. We construct a stochastic model by analyzing single-bacterium trajectories and show that the resulting theoretical prediction for the many-body behavior of the bacteria is in quantitative agreement with our experimental characterization of how cells explore the surface via a power-law strategy.
Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3NP, United Kingdom.
Anatolij
A
Gelimson
Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, People's Republic of China.|Bioengineering Department, Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, California Nano Systems Institute, UCLA, Los Angeles, California 90095-1600, USA.
Kun
K
Zhao
Bioengineering Department, Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, California Nano Systems Institute, UCLA, Los Angeles, California 90095-1600, USA.
Calvin K
CK
Lee
Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3NP, United Kingdom.
W Till
WT
Kranz
Bioengineering Department, Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, California Nano Systems Institute, UCLA, Los Angeles, California 90095-1600, USA.
Gerard C L
GC
Wong
Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3NP, United Kingdom.
Ramin
R
Golestanian
D010861:Fimbriae, Bacterial; D009068:Movement; D009949:Orientation; D011336:Probability; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa