Formation, collective motion, and merging of macroscopic bacterial aggregates
Fig 7
Merging at the scale of agents in the simulation.
A-C) Three frames of the same region at different times in the simulation. The two aggregates, both consisting of motile (blue) and immotile cells (red), eventually merge. (D) The number of cells in a 2 mm x 2 mm square region encompassing the initial position of the bottom aggregate from A) vs. time. The aggregate gradually loses both motile and immotile cells until the chemoattractant concentration drops below the threshold at 11.8 hours (arrow). Then, all cells regain motility and collectively move towards the proximal aggregate. (E) The number of cells in a 2 mm x 2 mm square region positioned on the initial position of the upper aggregate from (A) vs. time. The aggregate experiences fluctuations in the number of cells and eventually receives the motile cells from the proximal aggregate.