Formation of complex bacterial colonies via self-generated vortices

András Czirók, Eshel Ben-Jacob, Inon Cohen, and Tamás Vicsek
Phys. Rev. E 54, 1791 – Published 1 August 1996
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Abstract

Depending on the environmental conditions bacterial colonies growing on agar surfaces can exhibit complex colony formation and various types of collective motion. Experimental results are presented concerning the hydrodynamics (vortices, migration of bacteria in clusters) and colony formation of a morphotype of Bacillus subtilis. Some of these features are not specific to this morphotype but also have been observed in several other bacterial strains, suggesting the presence of universal effects. A simple model of self-propelled particles is proposed, which is capable of describing the hydrodynamics on the intermediate level, including the experimentally observed rotating disks of bacteria. The colony formation is captured by a complex generic model taking into account nutrient diffusion, reproduction, and sporulation of bacteria, extracellular slime deposition, chemoregulation, and inhomogeneous population. Our model also sheds light on some possible biological benefits of this ‘‘multicellular behavior.’’ © 1996 The American Physical Society.

  • Received 29 March 1996

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.54.1791

©1996 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

András Czirók, Eshel Ben-Jacob, Inon Cohen, and Tamás Vicsek

  • Department of Atomic Physics, Eötvös University, Puskin u. 5-7, 1088 Budapest, Hungary
  • School of Physics, Tel-Aviv University, 69978 Tel-Aviv, Israel Institute for Technical Physics, P.O. Box 76, 1325 Budapest, Hungary

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Vol. 54, Iss. 2 — August 1996

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