How bacterial cells and colonies move on solid substrates
Poenisch W, Weber CA, Zaburdaev V (2019)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2019
Journal
Book Volume: 99
Article Number: 042419
Journal Issue: 4
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.99.042419
Abstract
Many bacteria rely on active cell appendages, such as type IV pili, to move over substrates and interact with neighboring cells. Here, we study the motion of individual cells and bacterial colonies, mediated by the collective interactions of multiple pili. It was shown experimentally that the substrate motility of Neisseria gonorrhoeae cells can be described as a persistent random walk with a persistence length that exceeds the mean pili length. Moreover, the persistence length increases for a higher number of pili per cell. With the help of a simple, tractable stochastic model, we test whether a tug of war without directional memory can explain the persistent motion of single Neisseria gonorrhoeae cells. While persistent motion of single cells indeed emerges naturally in the model, a tug of war alone is not capable of explaining the motility of microcolonies, which becomes weaker with increasing colony size. We suggest sliding friction between the microcolonies and the substrate as the missing ingredient. While such friction almost does not affect the general mechanism of single cell motility, it has a strong effect on colony motility. We validate the theoretical predictions by using a three-dimensional computational model that includes explicit details of the pili dynamics, force generation, and geometry of cells.
Authors with CRIS profile
Involved external institutions
Germany (DE)How to cite
APA:
Poenisch, W., Weber, C.A., & Zaburdaev, V. (2019). How bacterial cells and colonies move on solid substrates. Physical Review E, 99(4). https://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.99.042419
MLA:
Poenisch, Wolfram, Christoph A. Weber, and Vasily Zaburdaev. "How bacterial cells and colonies move on solid substrates." Physical Review E 99.4 (2019).
BibTeX: Download