Collective Motion and Nonequilibrium Cluster Formation in Colonies of Gliding Bacteria

Fernando Peruani, Jörn Starruß, Vladimir Jakovljevic, Lotte Søgaard-Andersen, Andreas Deutsch, and Markus Bär
Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 098102 – Published 28 February 2012
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Abstract

We characterize cell motion in experiments and show that the transition to collective motion in colonies of gliding bacterial cells confined to a monolayer appears through the organization of cells into larger moving clusters. Collective motion by nonequilibrium cluster formation is detected for a critical cell packing fraction around 17%. This transition is characterized by a scale-free power-law cluster-size distribution, with an exponent 0.88±0.07, and the appearance of giant number fluctuations. Our findings are in quantitative agreement with simulations of self-propelled rods. This suggests that the interplay of self-propulsion and the rod shape of bacteria is sufficient to induce collective motion.

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  • Received 29 September 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.098102

© 2012 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Fernando Peruani1,2, Jörn Starruß3, Vladimir Jakovljevic4, Lotte Søgaard-Andersen4, Andreas Deutsch3, and Markus Bär5

  • 1Laboratoire J.A. Dieudonné, Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis, UMR CNRS 7351, Parc Valrose, F-06108 Nice Cedex 02, France
  • 2Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Nöthnitzer Strasse 38, 01187 Dresden, Germany
  • 3Center for Information Services and High Performance Computing, Technische Universität Dresden, Zellescher Weg 12, D-01069 Dresden, Germany
  • 4Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Karl-von-Frisch Strasse 10, D-35043 Marburg, Germany
  • 5Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Abbestrasse 2-12, 10587 Berlin, Germany

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Issue

Vol. 108, Iss. 9 — 2 March 2012

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