Collective Dynamics of Bacteria

Abstract

A population of E. coli due to stress can have a spectral of phenotypes, coarse-grained into filamentous and non-filamentous subpopulations with distinct physical properties. This natural bet-hedging not only gives rise to far reaching pioneers that explore new territories, but also enhances the bacterial collapse into topologically safe regions. We used a micro-fluidic environment of a nontrivial 2-D geometrical maze to replicate the complex topologies present in bacteria's natural environment. We studied the behaviour and ability of non-filamentous and filamentous E. coli bacteria to traverse this maze and noted that filamentous E. coli bacteria was the pioneer with fitness advantages due to its unique properties. From our study, we present numerical data, images, and relevant theories to understand the results.