Head of Press and Information Office
Dr. Dr. Jens Simon
Phone: +49 531 592-3005
Email:
jens.simon(at)ptb.de
Bacteria organize in a variety of collective states, from swarming—rapid surface exploration, to biofilms—highly dense immobile communities attributed to stress resistance. It has been suggested that biofilm and swarming are oppositely controlled, making this transition particularly interesting for understanding the ability of bacterial colonies to adapt to challenging environments. Researchers from PTB Department Modelling and Data Analysis together with colleagues from Ben-Gurion and Bar-Ilan Universities in Israel studied the swarm to biofilm transition on both an individual and collective scale. Analysis of bacterial dynamics shows that a few individual cells start the formation of biofilms by trapping more bacteria inside a stationary cluster. Both biological and physical processes facilitate the transition from swarm to biofilm, a key insight into the formation of biofilms. Around aggregates, cells continue swarming almost unobstructed, while inside, trapped cells are added to the biofilm. While the experimental findings rule out previously suggested and theoretically predicted purely physical effects as the sole trigger for biofilm formation, the analysis of the experimental data shows how physical processes, such as clustering and jamming, accelerate biofilm formation substantially.
Figure: Overlapping trajectories of swarming bacteria cells. Groups of bacteria can organize in multiple ways, including swarming and dense, stationary biofilms. The shift between these disparate states exemplifies how bacteria adapt to challenging environments.
The publication is available:
VM Worlitzer, A Jose, I Grinberg, M Bär, S Heidenreich, A Eldar, G Ariel, ...Biophysical aspects underlying the swarm to biofilm transition Science Advances 8 (24), eabn81522022 (2022). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abn8152
Contact: Sebastian Heidenreich (8.43), Markus Bär (8.41)
Dr. Dr. Jens Simon
Phone: +49 531 592-3005
Email:
jens.simon(at)ptb.de
Karin Conring
Phone: +49 531 592-3006
Fax: +49 531 592-3008
Email:
karin.conring(at)ptb.de
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