Connecting single-cell properties to collective behavior in multiple wild isolates of the Enterobacter cloacae complex

Lim, Sean; Guo, Xiaokan; Boedicker, James

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0214719

Cited by 2 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 81 publications

(143 reference statements)

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“…Here we report new collective properties observed in the bacterial strain Enterobacter cloacae, i.e., the formation, long-distance movement, and merging of macroscale bacterial aggregates. Chemotactic pattern formation was reported in this strain as part of a recent study of pattern formation in wild bacterial isolates (6). Here we quantify a pattern of spots that emerges within an initially well-mixed culture of cells in soft agar, and track the movement of each spot over multiple hours.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 67%

“…Enterobacter cloacae is a bacterial strain previously reported to be capable of large scale pattern formation, including moving bands of high cell density and aggregate formation (6,25). Here we focus on the aggregate formation, using a large culture dish and uniformly mixing cells into the culture medium at the beginning of the experiment.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Enterobacter cloacae Ecc1 used for the experiment was isolated from the Caltech turtle pond and confirmed using 16s rRNA analysis (6). Primary cultures of Enterobacter cloacae Ecc1 were grown overnight in Luria-Bertani broth (Difco™) at 37°C under constant shaking at 180 rpm.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Primary cultures of Enterobacter cloacae Ecc1 were grown overnight in Luria-Bertani broth (Difco™) at 37°C under constant shaking at 180 rpm. Cultures were then washed thrice with 1X PBS (VWR, life science) and resuspended in 5 ml 1X PBS before inoculating in M9 minimal agar (6).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 67%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Formation, collective motion, and merging of macroscopic bacterial aggregates

Boedicker

Courcoutbetis

Gangan

et al. 2021

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Both swarm band and aggregate formation rely on chemotaxis [1][2][3][4]. These collective phenomena can even be predicted with analytical mathematical considerations and recreated with detailed computational models [3,[5][6][7][8][9][10]. Decades of work has resulted in a detailed and predictive understanding of bacterial collective phenomena, based mostly on work with bacterial species Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium and Myxococcus xanthus [1][2][3]11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%