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Running and tumbling with E. coli in polymeric solutions

Run-and-tumble motility is widely used by swimming microorganisms including numerous prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. Here, we experimentally investigate the run-and-tumble dynamics of the bacterium E. coli in polymeric solutions. We find that even small amounts of polymer in solution can drast...

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Autores principales: Patteson, A. E., Gopinath, A., Goulian, M., Arratia, P. E.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4938119/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26507950
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep15761
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author Patteson, A. E.
Gopinath, A.
Goulian, M.
Arratia, P. E.
author_facet Patteson, A. E.
Gopinath, A.
Goulian, M.
Arratia, P. E.
author_sort Patteson, A. E.
collection PubMed
description Run-and-tumble motility is widely used by swimming microorganisms including numerous prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. Here, we experimentally investigate the run-and-tumble dynamics of the bacterium E. coli in polymeric solutions. We find that even small amounts of polymer in solution can drastically change E. coli dynamics: cells tumble less and their velocity increases, leading to an enhancement in cell translational diffusion and a sharp decline in rotational diffusion. We show that suppression of tumbling is due to fluid viscosity while the enhancement in swimming speed is mainly due to fluid elasticity. Visualization of single fluorescently labeled DNA polymers reveals that the flow generated by individual E. coli is sufficiently strong to stretch polymer molecules and induce elastic stresses in the fluid, which in turn can act on the cell in such a way to enhance its transport. Our results show that the transport and spread of chemotactic cells can be independently modified and controlled by the fluid material properties.
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spelling pubmed-49381192016-07-18 Running and tumbling with E. coli in polymeric solutions Patteson, A. E. Gopinath, A. Goulian, M. Arratia, P. E. Sci Rep Article Run-and-tumble motility is widely used by swimming microorganisms including numerous prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. Here, we experimentally investigate the run-and-tumble dynamics of the bacterium E. coli in polymeric solutions. We find that even small amounts of polymer in solution can drastically change E. coli dynamics: cells tumble less and their velocity increases, leading to an enhancement in cell translational diffusion and a sharp decline in rotational diffusion. We show that suppression of tumbling is due to fluid viscosity while the enhancement in swimming speed is mainly due to fluid elasticity. Visualization of single fluorescently labeled DNA polymers reveals that the flow generated by individual E. coli is sufficiently strong to stretch polymer molecules and induce elastic stresses in the fluid, which in turn can act on the cell in such a way to enhance its transport. Our results show that the transport and spread of chemotactic cells can be independently modified and controlled by the fluid material properties. Nature Publishing Group 2015-10-28 /pmc/articles/PMC4938119/ /pubmed/26507950 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep15761 Text en Copyright © 2015, Macmillan Publishers Limited http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
spellingShingle Article
Patteson, A. E.
Gopinath, A.
Goulian, M.
Arratia, P. E.
Running and tumbling with E. coli in polymeric solutions
title Running and tumbling with E. coli in polymeric solutions
title_full Running and tumbling with E. coli in polymeric solutions
title_fullStr Running and tumbling with E. coli in polymeric solutions
title_full_unstemmed Running and tumbling with E. coli in polymeric solutions
title_short Running and tumbling with E. coli in polymeric solutions
title_sort running and tumbling with e. coli in polymeric solutions
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4938119/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26507950
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep15761
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