Berlin 2012 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 11: Focus: Statistics of Cellular Motion (with DY)

BP 11.8: Talk

Tuesday, March 27, 2012, 12:30–12:45, H 1028

Collective Dynamics of swimming bacteria and surface attached clusters during biofilm formation — •Matthias Theves and Carsten Beta — Universität Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany

Biofilms (BFs) are communities of sessile bacteria, embedded in an extracellular polymeric structure (EPS), which form at solid-liquid or liquid- air interfaces. We use biocompatible microfluidic channels and high speed time lapse microscopy to study the recruitment of cells from the bulk fluid to a glass surface. During this early stage of BF-formation, bacteria from the swimming phase coexist with surface attached cells that cluster together and form the cores of growing colonies. We analyze the growth dynamics of both populations. After a continuous increase in cell density and cluster size, we observe a sudden increase in the number of swimming cells. Furthermore, we analyze the random walk of isolated swimmers and perform a statistical analysis that allows us to identify changes in the migration patterns of swimming cells in the presence of different obstacles in the microchannel and during experiments with different medium availability.