Polymertropism of rod-shaped bacteria: movement along aligned polysaccharide fibers

Abstract In nature, bacteria often live in surface-associated communities known as biofilms. Biofilm-forming bacteria typically deposit a layer of polysaccharide on the surfaces they inhabit; hence, polysaccharide is their immediate environment on many surfaces. In this study, we examined how the ph...

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Autores principales:	David J. Lemon, Xingbo Yang, Pragya Srivastava, Yan-Yeung Luk, Anthony G. Garza
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2017
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/9edba13768594158b0ddca3de14d9a26
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:9edba13768594158b0ddca3de14d9a262021-12-02T15:05:19ZPolymertropism of rod-shaped bacteria: movement along aligned polysaccharide fibers10.1038/s41598-017-07486-02045-2322https://doaj.org/article/9edba13768594158b0ddca3de14d9a262017-08-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-07486-0https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract In nature, bacteria often live in surface-associated communities known as biofilms. Biofilm-forming bacteria typically deposit a layer of polysaccharide on the surfaces they inhabit; hence, polysaccharide is their immediate environment on many surfaces. In this study, we examined how the physical characteristics of polysaccharide substrates influence the behavior of the biofilm-forming bacterium Myxococcus xanthus. M. xanthus responds to the compression-induced deformation of polysaccharide substrates by preferentially spreading across the surface perpendicular to the axis of compression. Our results suggest that M. xanthus is not responding to the water that accumulates on the surface of the polysaccharide substrate after compression or to compression-induced changes in surface topography such as the formation of troughs. These directed surface movements do, however, consistently match the orientation of the long axes of aligned and tightly packed polysaccharide fibers in compressed substrates, as indicated by behavioral, birefringence and small angle X-ray scattering analyses. Therefore, we suggest that the directed movements are a response to the physical arrangement of the polymers in the substrate and refer to the directed movements as polymertropism. This behavior might be a common property of bacteria, as many biofilm-forming bacteria that are rod-shaped and motile on soft surfaces exhibit polymertropism.David J. LemonXingbo YangPragya SrivastavaYan-Yeung LukAnthony G. GarzaNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 7, Iss 1, Pp 1-13 (2017)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q David J. Lemon Xingbo Yang Pragya Srivastava Yan-Yeung Luk Anthony G. Garza Polymertropism of rod-shaped bacteria: movement along aligned polysaccharide fibers
description	Abstract In nature, bacteria often live in surface-associated communities known as biofilms. Biofilm-forming bacteria typically deposit a layer of polysaccharide on the surfaces they inhabit; hence, polysaccharide is their immediate environment on many surfaces. In this study, we examined how the physical characteristics of polysaccharide substrates influence the behavior of the biofilm-forming bacterium Myxococcus xanthus. M. xanthus responds to the compression-induced deformation of polysaccharide substrates by preferentially spreading across the surface perpendicular to the axis of compression. Our results suggest that M. xanthus is not responding to the water that accumulates on the surface of the polysaccharide substrate after compression or to compression-induced changes in surface topography such as the formation of troughs. These directed surface movements do, however, consistently match the orientation of the long axes of aligned and tightly packed polysaccharide fibers in compressed substrates, as indicated by behavioral, birefringence and small angle X-ray scattering analyses. Therefore, we suggest that the directed movements are a response to the physical arrangement of the polymers in the substrate and refer to the directed movements as polymertropism. This behavior might be a common property of bacteria, as many biofilm-forming bacteria that are rod-shaped and motile on soft surfaces exhibit polymertropism.
format	article
author	David J. Lemon Xingbo Yang Pragya Srivastava Yan-Yeung Luk Anthony G. Garza
author_facet	David J. Lemon Xingbo Yang Pragya Srivastava Yan-Yeung Luk Anthony G. Garza
author_sort	David J. Lemon
title	Polymertropism of rod-shaped bacteria: movement along aligned polysaccharide fibers
title_short	Polymertropism of rod-shaped bacteria: movement along aligned polysaccharide fibers
title_full	Polymertropism of rod-shaped bacteria: movement along aligned polysaccharide fibers
title_fullStr	Polymertropism of rod-shaped bacteria: movement along aligned polysaccharide fibers
title_full_unstemmed	Polymertropism of rod-shaped bacteria: movement along aligned polysaccharide fibers
title_sort	polymertropism of rod-shaped bacteria: movement along aligned polysaccharide fibers
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2017
url	https://doaj.org/article/9edba13768594158b0ddca3de14d9a26
work_keys_str_mv	AT davidjlemon polymertropismofrodshapedbacteriamovementalongalignedpolysaccharidefibers AT xingboyang polymertropismofrodshapedbacteriamovementalongalignedpolysaccharidefibers AT pragyasrivastava polymertropismofrodshapedbacteriamovementalongalignedpolysaccharidefibers AT yanyeungluk polymertropismofrodshapedbacteriamovementalongalignedpolysaccharidefibers AT anthonyggarza polymertropismofrodshapedbacteriamovementalongalignedpolysaccharidefibers
_version_	1718388909669351424

Polymertropism of rod-shaped bacteria: movement along aligned polysaccharide fibers

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