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Publications Immunophysics Division

2013

How the Motility Pattern of Bacteria Affects Their Dispersal and Chemotaxis

Johannes Taktikos, Holger Stark, Vasily Zaburdaev

PLoS One 8 (12) e81936 (2013) | Journal

Most bacteria at certain stages of their life cycle are able to move actively; they can swim in a liquid or crawl on various surfaces. A typical path of the moving cell often resembles the trajectory of a random walk. However, bacteria are capable of modifying their apparently random motion in response to changing environmental conditions. As a result, bacteria can migrate towards the source of nutrients or away from harmful chemicals. Surprisingly, many bacterial species that were studied have several distinct motility patterns, which can be theoretically modeled by a unifying random walk approach. We use this approach to quantify the process of cell dispersal in a homogeneous environment and show how the bacterial drift velocity towards the source of attracting chemicals is affected by the motility pattern of the bacteria. Our results open up the possibility of accessing additional information about the intrinsic response of the cells using macroscopic observations of bacteria moving in inhomogeneous environments.

How the Motility Pattern of Bacteria Affects Their Dispersal and Chemotaxis

J. Taktikos, H. Stark, V. Zaburdaev

PLoS ONE 8 (12) e81936 (2013) | Journal

A Bacterial Swimmer with Two Alternating Speeds of Propagation

M. Theves, J. Taktikos, V. Zaburdaev, H. Stark, C. Beta

Biophysical Journal 105 (8) 1915-1924 (2013) | Journal

A Bacterial Swimmer with Two Alternating Speeds of Propagation

Matthias Theves, Johannes Taktikos, Vasily Zaburdaev, Holger Stark, Carsten Beta

Biophysical Journal 105 (8) 1915-1924 (2013) | Journal

We recorded large data sets of swimming trajectories of the soil bacterium Pseudomonas putida. Like other prokaryotic swimmers, P. putida exhibits a motion pattern dominated by persistent runs that are interrupted by turning events. An in-depth analysis of their swimming trajectories revealed that the majority of the turning events is characterized by an angle of phi(1) = 180 degrees (reversals). To a lesser extent, turning angles of phi(2 Sigma Sigma Sigma Sigma) = 00 are also found. Remarkably, we observed that, upon a reversal, the swimming speed changes by a factor of two on average a prominent feature of the motion pattern that, to our knowledge, has not been reported before. A theoretical model, based on the experimental values for the average run time and the rotational diffusion, recovers the mean-square displacement of P. putida if the two distinct swimming speeds are taken into account. Compared to a swimmer that moves with a constant intermediate speed, the mean-square displacement is strongly enhanced. We furthermore observed a negative dip in the directional autocorrelation at intermediate times, a feature that is only recovered in an extended model, where the nonexponential shape of the run-time distribution is taken into account.

Space-Time Velocity Correlation Function for Random Walks

V. Zaburdaev, S. Denisov, P. Hanggi

Physical Review Letters 110 (17) 170604 (2013) | Journal

Space-Time Velocity Correlation Function for Random Walks

Vasily Zaburdaev, S. Denisov, P. Haenggi

Physical Review Letters 110 (17) 170604 (2013) | Journal

Space-time correlation functions constitute a useful instrument from the research toolkit of continuous-media and many-body physics. Here we adopt this concept for single-particle random walks and demonstrate that the corresponding space-time velocity autocorrelation functions reveal correlations which extend in time much longer than estimated with the commonly employed temporal correlation functions. A generic feature of considered random-walk processes is an effect of velocity echo identified by the existence of time-dependent regions where most of the walkers are moving in the direction opposite to their initial motion. We discuss the relevance of the space-time velocity correlation functions for the experimental studies of cold atom dynamics in an optical potential and charge transport on micro- and nanoscales. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.170604

Liquid transport facilitated by channels in Bacillus subtilis biofilms

James N. Wilking, Vasily Zaburdaev, Michael De Volder, Richard Losick, Michael P. Brenner, David A. Weitz

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 110 (3) 848-852 (2013) | Journal

Many bacteria on earth exist in surface-attached communities known as biofilms. These films are responsible for manifold problems, including hospital-acquired infections and biofouling, but they can also be beneficial. Biofilm growth depends on the transport of nutrients and waste, for which diffusion is thought to be the main source of transport. However, diffusion is ineffective for transport over large distances and thus should limit growth. Nevertheless, biofilms can grow to be very large. Here we report the presence of a remarkable network of well-defined channels that form in wildtype Bacillus subtilis biofilms and provide a system for enhanced transport. We observe that these channels have high permeability to liquid flow and facilitate the transport of liquid through the biofilm. In addition, we find that spatial variations in evaporative flux from the surface of these biofilms provide a driving force for the flow of liquid in the channels. These channels offer a remarkably simple system for liquid transport, and their discovery provides insight into the physiology and growth of biofilms.

Liquid transport facilitated by channels in Bacillus subtilis biofilms

J. N. Wilking, V. Zaburdaev, M. De Volder, R. Losick, M. P. Brenner, D. A. Weitz

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 110 (3) 848-852 (2013) | Journal

Contact

Immunophysics Division
Prof. Vasily Zaburdaev
Principal Investigator

Max-Planck-Zentrum für Physik und Medizin
Kussmaulallee 2
Room 02.116
91054 Erlangen, Germany
+49 9131 8284 102

vasily.zaburdaev@mpzpm.mpg.de

Silke Besold

Secretary

Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Chair of Mathematics in Life Sciences
Kussmaulallee 2
Room 02.122
91054 Erlangen, Germany
+49 9131 8284 104

silke.besold@fau.de

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