Three-Dimensional Tracking of Motile Bacteria Near a Solid Planar Surface

Knowing how motile bacteria move near and along a solid surface is crucial to understanding such diverse phenomena as the migration of infectious bacteria along a catheter, biofilm growth, and the movement of bacteria through the pore spaces of saturated soil, a critical step in the in situ bioremed...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 1995-06, Vol.92 (13), p.6195-6199
Main Authors: Frymier, Paul D., Ford, Roseanne M., Berg, Howard C., Cummings, Peter T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bacteria
Bacteriological Techniques
Cell Movement
Cellular biology
Circles
Electrostatics
Escherichia coli
Escherichia coli - physiology
Experimental data
Flagella
Microscopes
Microscopy - instrumentation
Microscopy - methods
Modeling
Rotation
Solid surfaces
Swimming
Time Factors
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Knowing how motile bacteria move near and along a solid surface is crucial to understanding such diverse phenomena as the migration of infectious bacteria along a catheter, biofilm growth, and the movement of bacteria through the pore spaces of saturated soil, a critical step in the in situ bioremediation of contaminated aquifers. In this study, a tracking microscope is used to record the three-dimensional motion of Escherichia coli near a planar glass surface. Data from the tracking microscope are analyzed to quantify the effects of bacteria-surface interactions on the swimming behavior of bacteria. The speed of cells approaching the surface is found to decrease in agreement with the mathematical model of Ramia et al. [Ramia, M., Tullock, D. L. \& Phan-Tien, N. (1993) Biophys J. 65,755-778], which represents the bacteria as spheres with a single polar flagellum rotating at a constant rate. The tendency of cells to swim adjacent to the surface is shown in computer-generated reproductions of cell traces. The attractive interaction potential between the cells and the solid surface is offered as one of several possible explanations for this tendency.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.92.13.6195