Morphogenesis of bacterial colonies in polymeric environments
Sebastian Gonzalez La Corte,
Corey A. Stevens,
Gerardo Cárcamo-Oyarce
et al.
Abstract:Many bacteria live in polymeric fluids, such as mucus, environmental polysaccharides, and extracellular polymers in biofilms. However, lab studies typically focus on cells in polymer-free fluids. Here, we show that interactions with polymers shape a fundamental feature of bacterial life---how they proliferate in space in multicellular colonies. Using experiments, we find that when polymer is sufficiently concentrated, cells generically and reversibly form large serpentine "cables" as they proliferate. By combi… Show more
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