The interaction of thin-film flow, bacterial swarming and cell differentiation in colonies of Serratia liquefaciens

The rate of expansion of bacterial colonies of S. liquefaciens is investigated in terms of a mathematical model that combines biological as well as hydrodynamic processes. The relative importance of cell differentiation and production of an extracellular wetting agent to bacterial swarming is explor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of mathematical biology 2000-01, Vol.40 (1), p.27-63
Main Authors: Bees, M A, Andresén, P, Mosekilde, E, Givskov, M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cell Division
Culture Media
Mathematics
Models, Biological
Movement
Serratia - cytology
Serratia - growth & development
Serratia - physiology
Viscosity
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Summary:The rate of expansion of bacterial colonies of S. liquefaciens is investigated in terms of a mathematical model that combines biological as well as hydrodynamic processes. The relative importance of cell differentiation and production of an extracellular wetting agent to bacterial swarming is explored using a continuum representation. The model incorporates aspects of thin film flow with variable suspension viscosity, wetting, and cell differentiation. Experimental evidence suggests that the bacterial colony is highly sensitive to its environment and that a variety of mechanisms are exploited in order to proliferate on a variety of surfaces. It is found that a combination of effects are required to reproduce the variation of bacterial colony motility over a large range of nutrient availability and medium hardness.
ISSN:0303-6812
1432-1416
DOI:10.1007/s002850050004