title: Swimming bacteria promote dispersal of non-motile staphylococcal species.
abstract: Swimming motility is considered a beneficial trait among bacterial species as it enables movement across fluid environments and augments invasion of tissues within the host. However, non-swimming bacteria also flourish in fluid habitats, but how they effectively spread and colonize distant ecological niches remains unclear. We show that non-motile staphylococci can gain motility by hitchhiking on swimming bacteria, leading to extended and directed motion with increased velocity. This phoretic interaction was observed between Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus epidermidis and P. aeruginosa, as well as S. aureus and Escherichia coli, suggesting hitchhiking as a general translocation mechanism for non-motile staphylococcal species. By leveraging the motility of swimming bacteria, it was observed that staphylococci can colonize new niches that are less available in the absence of swimming carriers. This work highlights the importance of considering interactions between species within polymicrobial communities, in which bacteria can utilize each other as resources.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Tahoura
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Samad
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Billings
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Alona
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Birjiniuk
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Crouzier
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Patrick S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Doyle
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ribbeck
mesh_terms: D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000502:physiology*; D009068:Movement; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000502:physiology*; D013210:Staphylococcus / Q000502:physiology*