Flower-like patterns in multi-species bacterial colonies
Abstract
Diverse interactions among species within bacterial colonies lead to intricate spatiotemporal dynamics, which can affect their growth and survival. Here, we describe the emergence of complex structures in a colony grown from mixtures of motile and non-motile bacterial species on a soft agar surface. Time-lapse imaging shows that non-motile bacteria 'hitchhike' on the motile bacteria as the latter migrate outward. The non-motile bacteria accumulate at the boundary of the colony and trigger an instability that leaves behind striking flower-like patterns. The mechanism of the front instability governing this pattern formation is elucidated by a mathematical model for the frictional motion of the colony interface, with friction depending on the local concentration of the non-motile species. A more elaborate two-dimensional phase-field model that explicitly accounts for the interplay between growth, mechanical stress from the motile species, and friction provided by the non-motile species, fully reproduces the observed flower-like patterns.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Jan 14, 2020
- Source ID
- 10.7554/elife.48885
Entities
People
- Jeff Hasty
- Lev S Tsimring
- Liyang Xiong
- Robert M Cooper
- Wouter-Jan Rappel
- Yuansheng Cao
Organizations
- National Institutes of Health
- National Science Foundation
- Office of Naval Research
- University of California
- University of California, San Diego