文章基本信息

标题：The 3D architecture of a bacterial swarm has implications for antibiotic tolerance
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作者：Jonathan D. Partridge ; Gil Ariel ; Orly Schvartz 等
期刊名称：Scientific Reports
电子版ISSN：2045-2322
出版年度：2018
卷号：8
期号：1
页码：15823
DOI：10.1038/s41598-018-34192-2
语种：English
出版社：Springer Nature
摘要：Swarming bacteria are an example of a complex, active biological system, where high cell density and super-diffusive cell mobility confer survival advantages to the group as a whole. Previous studies on the dynamics of the swarm have been limited to easily observable regions at the advancing edge of the swarm where cells are restricted to a plane. In this study, using defocused epifluorescence video imaging, we have tracked the motion of fluorescently labeled individuals within the interior of a densely packed three-dimensional (3D) region of a swarm. Our analysis reveals a novel 3D architecture, where bacteria are constrained by inter-particle interactions, sandwiched between two distinct boundary conditions. We find that secreted biosurfactants keep bacteria away from the swarm-air upper boundary, and added antibiotics at the lower swarm-surface boundary lead to their migration away from this boundary. Formation of the antibiotic-avoidance zone is dependent on a functional chemotaxis signaling system, in the absence of which the swarm loses its high tolerance to the antibiotics.