Avtor/Urednik		Sretenović, Simon; Stojković, Biljana; Dogša, Iztok; Kostanjšek, Rok; Poberaj, Igor; Stopar, David
Naslov		An early mechanical coupling of planktonic bacteria in dilute suspensions
Tip		članek
Vol. in št.		, št. Vol. 8
Leto izdaje		2017
Obseg		str. 1-10
ISSN		2041-1723 - Nature communications
Jezik		eng
Abstrakt		It is generally accepted that planktonic bacteria in dilute suspensions are not mechanically coupled and do not show correlated motion. The mechanical coupling of cells is a trait that develops upon transition into a biofilm, a microbial community of self-aggregated bacterial cells. Here we employ optical tweezers to show that bacteria in dilute suspensions are mechanically coupled and show long-range correlated motion. The strength of the coupling increases with the growth of liquid bacterial culture. The matrix responsible for the mechanical coupling is composed of cell debris and extracellular polymer material. The fragile network connecting cells behaves as viscoelastic liquid of entangled extracellular polymers. Our findings point to physical connections between bacteria in dilute bacterial suspensions that may provide a mechanistic framework for understanding of biofilm formation, osmotic flow of nutrients, diffusion of signal molecules in quorum sensing, or different efficacy of antibiotic treatments at low and high bacterial densities.
Proste vsebinske oznake		mechanical coupling of cells biofilms cellular microbiology mehansko spajanje celic biofilmi celična mikrobiologija