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Adaptive self-organization during growth of bacterial colonies

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  • Ben-Jacob, Eshel
  • Shmueli, Haim
  • Shochet, Ofer
  • Tenenbaum, Adam

Abstract

We present a study of interfacial pattern formation during diffusion-limited growth of Bacillus subtilis. It is demonstrated that bacterial colonies can develop patterns similar to morphologies observed during diffusion-limited growth in non-living (azoic) systems such as solidification and electro-chemical deposition. The various growth morphologies, that is the global structure of the colony, are observed as we vary the growth conditions. These include fractal growth, dense-branching growth, compact growth, dendritic growth and chiral growth. The results demonstrate the action of a singular interplay between the micro-level (individual bacterium) and macro-level (the colony) in selecting the observed morphologies as is understood for non-living systems. Furthermore, the observed morphologies can be organized within a morphology diagram indicating the existence of a morphology selection principle similar to the one proposed for azoic systems. We propose a phase-field-like model (the phase being the bacterial concentration and the field being the nutrient concentration) to describe the growth. The bacteria-bacteria interaction is manifested as a phase dependent diffusion constant. Growth of a bacterial colony presents an inherent additional level of complexity compared to azoic systems, since the building blocks themselves are living systems. Thus, our studies also focus on the transition between morphologies. We have observed extended morphology transitions due to phenotypic changes of the bacteria, as well as bursts of new morphologies resulting from genotypic changes. In addition, we have observed extended and heritable transitions (mainly between dense branching growth and chiral growth) as well as phenotypic transitions that turn genotypic over time. We discuss the implications of our results in the context of the evolving picture of genome cybernetics. Diffusion limited growth of bacterial colonies combined with new understanding of pattern formation in azoic systems provide new tools for the study of adaptive self-organization and mutation in the presence of selective pressures. We include brief reviews of both the recent developments in the study of interfacial pattern formation in non-living systems and the current trends in the view of mutation dynamics.

Suggested Citation

  • Ben-Jacob, Eshel & Shmueli, Haim & Shochet, Ofer & Tenenbaum, Adam, 1992. "Adaptive self-organization during growth of bacterial colonies," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 187(3), pages 378-424.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:187:y:1992:i:3:p:378-424
    DOI: 10.1016/0378-4371(92)90002-8
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Ben-Jacob, Eshel, 1998. "Bacterial wisdom," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 249(1), pages 553-557.
    2. Ron, Ilan G. & Golding, Ido & Lifsitz-Mercer, Beatrice & Ben-Jacob, Eshel, 2003. "Bursts of sectors in expanding bacterial colonies as a possible model for tumor growth and metastases," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 320(C), pages 485-496.
    3. Ben-Jacob, Eshel, 1998. "Bacterial wisdom, Gödel's theorem and creative genomic webs," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 248(1), pages 57-76.
    4. Golding, Ido & Kozlovsky, Yonathan & Cohen, Inon & Ben-Jacob, Eshel, 1998. "Studies of bacterial branching growth using reaction–diffusion models for colonial development," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 260(3), pages 510-554.
    5. Ben-Jacob, Eshel, 1998. "The cybernetic genome," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 249(1), pages 407-414.
    6. Ben-Jacob, Eshel & Cohen, Inon & Golding, Ido & Gutnick, David L. & Tcherpakov, Marianna & Helbing, Dirk & Ron, Ilan G., 2000. "Bacterial cooperative organization under antibiotic stress," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 282(1), pages 247-282.
    7. Cohen, Inon & Ron, Ilan G & Ben-Jacob, Eshel, 2000. "From branching to nebula patterning during colonial development of the Paenibacillus alvei bacteria," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 286(1), pages 321-336.
    8. Ben-Jacob, Eshel & Cohen, Inon & Czirók, András & Vicsek, Tamás & Gutnick, David L., 1997. "Chemomodulation of cellular movement, collective formation of vortices by swarming bacteria, and colonial development," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 238(1), pages 181-197.

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