COOPERATIVE ORGANIZATION OF BACTERIAL COLONIES: From Genotype to Morphotype

In nature, bacteria must often cope with difficult environmental conditions. To do so they have developed sophisticated cooperative behavior and intricate communication pathways. Utilizing these elements, motile microbial colonies frequently develop complex patterns in response to adverse growth con...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annual review of microbiology 1998-01, Vol.52 (1), p.779-806
Main Authors: Ben-Jacob, Eshel, Cohen, Inon, Gutnick, David L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bacteria
Bacteria - genetics
Bacteria - growth & development
bacterial motility
Bacteriology
Biological and medical sciences
cell-cell communication
Cellular biology
chemotaxis
Chemotaxis - physiology
colonial development
Colonies (Biology)
Colony Count, Microbial
Culture Media - chemistry
Environmental conditions
Escherichia coli - growth & development
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Growth, nutrition, cell differenciation
Microbiology
Morphogenesis
Morphology
Myxococcus xanthus - growth & development
pattern formation
Proteins
Salmonella typhimurium - growth & development
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Summary:In nature, bacteria must often cope with difficult environmental conditions. To do so they have developed sophisticated cooperative behavior and intricate communication pathways. Utilizing these elements, motile microbial colonies frequently develop complex patterns in response to adverse growth conditions on hard surfaces under conditions of energy limitation. We employ the term morphotype to refer to specific properties of colonial development. The morphologies we discuss include a tip-splitting (T) morphotype, chiral (C) morphotype, and vortex (V) morphotype. A generic modeling approach was developed by combining a detailed study of the cellular behavior and dynamics during colonial development and invoking concepts derived from the study of pattern formation in nonliving systems. Analysis of patterning behavior of the models suggests bacterial processes whereby communication leads to self-organization by using cooperative cellular interactions. New features emerging from the model include various modes of cell-cell signaling, such as long-range chemorepulsion, short-range chemoattraction, and, in the case of the V morphotype, rotational chemotaxis. In this regard, pattern formation in microorganisms can be viewed as the result of the exchange of information between the micro-level (the individual cells) and the macro-level (the colony).
ISSN:0066-4227
1545-3251
DOI:10.1146/annurev.micro.52.1.779