Quantitative Effects of Medium Hardness and Nutrient Availability on the Swarming Motility of Serratia liquefaciens

We report the first controlled measurements of expansion rates for swarming colonies of Serratia liquefaciens under different growth conditions, combined with qualitative observations of the organization of the colony into regions of differentiated cell types. Significantly, the results reveal that...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Bulletin of mathematical biology 2002-05, Vol.64 (3), p.565-587
Main Authors: Bees, M.A., Andresén, P., Mosekilde, E., Givskov, M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bacteriology
Biofilms
Mathematical models
Models, Biological
Serratia - growth & development
Serratia - metabolism
Serratia - physiology
Serratia liquefaciens
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Summary:We report the first controlled measurements of expansion rates for swarming colonies of Serratia liquefaciens under different growth conditions, combined with qualitative observations of the organization of the colony into regions of differentiated cell types. Significantly, the results reveal that swarming colonies of S. liquefaciens can have an increasing expansion rate with time. We compare and contrast the expansion rate results with predictions from a recent mathematical model which coupled key hydrodynamical and biological mechanisms. Furthermore, we investigate whether the swarming colonies grow according to a power law or exponentially (for large times), as suggested by recent theoretical results.
ISSN:0092-8240
1522-9602
DOI:10.1006/bulm.2002.0287