Figures
Colony expansion of socially motile Myxococcus xanthus bacteria depends on cell growth, type IV pili activity, and self-produced exopolysaccharides.
Microbes can use self-produced molecules to coordinate their actions and perform collective tasks. We present a mathematical model to describe the mechanism driving social motility in the gram-negative bacterium M. xanthus. Our model, which was confirmed by long-term colony expansion experiments, reveals that exopolysaccharide production allows the cells to move collectively across surfaces as a coherent group. Expansion of a M. xanthus colony incubated on a nutrient agar surface for 4 days at 32°C is shown in this stereo-microscope image. Patra et al.
Image Credit: Kimberley Kissoon and Heidi B. Kaplan
Citation: (2016) PLoS Computational Biology Issue Image | Vol. 12(6) June 2016. PLoS Comput Biol 12(6): ev12.i06. https://doi.org/10.1371/image.pcbi.v12.i06
Published: June 30, 2016
Copyright: © 2016 Kissoon and Kaplan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Microbes can use self-produced molecules to coordinate their actions and perform collective tasks. We present a mathematical model to describe the mechanism driving social motility in the gram-negative bacterium M. xanthus. Our model, which was confirmed by long-term colony expansion experiments, reveals that exopolysaccharide production allows the cells to move collectively across surfaces as a coherent group. Expansion of a M. xanthus colony incubated on a nutrient agar surface for 4 days at 32°C is shown in this stereo-microscope image. Patra et al.
Image Credit: Kimberley Kissoon and Heidi B. Kaplan