Swarming bacteria undergo localized dynamic phase transition to form stress-induced biofilms

Grobas, Iago; Polin, Marco; Asally, Munehiro

doi:10.1101/2020.08.11.243733

Cited by 17 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…[87,88] For instance, bacteria often live in biofilms with complex spatial arrangements, self-organized patterns and localized species interactions. [89,90] In gut microbiome, microbial diversity and density vary greatly along both the longitudinal and the transverse axis, largely driven by the variations of local microenvironmental properties. [91] Gut crypts and the transverse folds separate the community into spatially segregated habitats that house distinct microbes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting plasmid persistence in microbial communities by coarse‐grained modeling

Wang

Weiss

et al. 2021

BioEssays

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Plasmids are a major type of mobile genetic elements (MGEs) that mediate horizontal gene transfer. The stable maintenance of plasmids plays a critical role in the functions and survival for microbial populations. However, predicting and controlling plasmid persistence and abundance in complex microbial communities remain challenging. Computationally, this challenge arises from the combinatorial explosion associated with the conventional modeling framework. Recently, a plasmid-centric framework (PCF) has been developed to overcome this computational bottleneck. This framework enables the derivation of a simple metric, the persistence potential, to predict plasmid persistence and abundance. Here, we discuss how PCF can be extended to account for plasmid interactions. We also discuss how such model-guided predictions of plasmid fates can benefit from the development of new experimental tools and data-driven computational methods.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting plasmid persistence in microbial communities by coarse‐grained modeling

Wang

Weiss

et al. 2021

BioEssays

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“…A transition between motile and immotile cells is more typically associated with cells of multicellular organisms, such as the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (38). The active matter community has examined the cell motility and pattern formation (39–41). Cells used here demonstrated a complete loss of motility, as opposed to reduced motility in regions of high cell density, suggesting the transition is not due to physical processes such as crowding and jamming.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The potential benefits of aggregate formation, especially aggregates composed of immotile cells, remain unclear. Previous studies have proposed that the clustering of cells into high density aggregates and biofilms is a stress response that enables cells to survive under harsh conditions such as low availability of nutrients or exposure to toxins (41,44). Would additional benefits be conferred to aggregates of immotile cells?…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formation, collective motion, and merging of macroscopic bacterial aggregates

Boedicker

Courcoutbetis

Gangan

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Chemotactic bacteria form emergent spatial patterns of variable cell density within cultures that are initially spatially uniform. These patterns are the result of chemical gradients that are created from the directed movement and metabolic activity of billions of cells. A recent study on pattern formation in wild bacterial isolates has revealed unique collective behaviors of the bacteria Enterobacter cloacae. As in other bacteria species, Enterobacter cloacae form macroscopic aggregates. Once formed, these bacterial clusters can migrate several millimeters, sometimes resulting in the merging of two or more clusters. To better understand these phenomena, we examine the formation and dynamics of thousands of bacterial clusters that form within a 22 cm square culture dish filled with soft agar over two days. At the macroscale, the aggregates display spatial order at short length scales, and the migration of cell clusters is superdiffusive, with a merging acceleration that is correlated with aggregate size. At the microscale, aggregates are composed of immotile cells surrounded by low density regions of motile cells. The collective movement of the aggregates is the result of an asymmetric flux of bacteria at the boundary. An agent based model is developed to examine how these phenomena are the result of both chemotactic movement and a change in motility at high cell density. These results identify and characterize a new mechanism for collective bacterial motility driven by a transient, density-dependent change in motility.Author summaryBacteria growing and swimming in soft agar often aggregate to form elaborate spatial patterns. Here we examine the patterns formed by the bacteria Enterobacter cloacae. An unusual behavior of this bacteria is the movement of cell clusters, millions of bacteria forming a tiny spot and moving together in the same direction. These spots sometimes run into each other and combine. By looking at the cells within these spots under a microscope, we find that cells within each spot stop swimming. The process of switching back and forth between swimming and not swimming causes the movement and fusion of the spots. A numerical simulation shows that the migration and merging of these spots can be expected if the cells swim towards regions of space with high concentrations of attractant molecules and stop swimming in locations crowded with many cells. This work identifies a novel process through which populations of bacteria cooperate and control the movement of large groups of cells.

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“…Some of the collective dynamics allow swarming bacteria to better cope with environmental stress. In a recent study, we showed that swarming B. subtilis colony can undergo biofilm formation through dynamic localised phase transition, which allows swarming bacteria to overcome several forms of environmental stress such as antibiotics, UV light and spatial confinement [ 52 ]. This phase transition appeared to be compatible with a physical theory of collective motion, known as motility-induced phase separation (MIPS), where self-propelled particles (e.g.…”

Section: Cell Shape and Density Impact Bacterial Collective Behaviourmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biofilm and swarming emergent behaviours controlled through the aid of biophysical understanding and tools

Grobas

Bazzoli

Asally

2020

Biochemical Society Transactions

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Bacteria can organise themselves into communities in the forms of biofilms and swarms. Through chemical and physical interactions between cells, these communities exhibit emergent properties that individual cells alone do not have. While bacterial communities have been mainly studied in the context of biochemistry and molecular biology, recent years have seen rapid advancements in the biophysical understanding of emergent phenomena through physical interactions in biofilms and swarms. Moreover, new technologies to control bacterial emergent behaviours by physical means are emerging in synthetic biology. Such technologies are particularly promising for developing engineered living materials (ELM) and devices and controlling contamination and biofouling. In this minireview, we overview recent studies unveiling physical and mechanical cues that trigger and affect swarming and biofilm development. In particular, we focus on cell shape, motion and density as the key parameters for mechanical cell–cell interactions within a community. We then showcase recent studies that use physical stimuli for patterning bacterial communities, altering collective behaviours and preventing biofilm formation. Finally, we discuss the future potential extension of biophysical and bioengineering research on microbial communities through computational modelling and deeper investigation of mechano-electrophysiological coupling.

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Swarming bacteria undergo localized dynamic phase transition to form stress-induced biofilms

Cited by 17 publications

References 66 publications

Predicting plasmid persistence in microbial communities by coarse‐grained modeling

Predicting plasmid persistence in microbial communities by coarse‐grained modeling

Formation, collective motion, and merging of macroscopic bacterial aggregates

Biofilm and swarming emergent behaviours controlled through the aid of biophysical understanding and tools

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