Berlin 2012 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 17: Posters: Physics of Cells

BP 17.4: Poster

Mittwoch, 28. März 2012, 17:30–19:30, Poster A

Three-dimensional obstacles for bacterial surface motility — •Claudia Meel, Nadzeya Kouzel, Enno Oldewurtel, and Berenike Maier — Biozentrum, University of Cologne

Many bacterial species live at surfaces. On the one hand they must attach firmly to avoid clearance but on the other hand they must be motile to spread. Many species have solved this problem by using polymers called type IV pili. They use pili as grappling hooks for pulling themselves over surfaces. Here we addressed the question how moving bacteria behave when they encounter microscopic elevations at the surface. We used two different species with very different lifestyles and morphologies, namely both the round human pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae and the rod-shaped soil-dweller Myxococcus xanthus. We showed microscopic elevations guide bacterial movement, i.e. bacteria preferentially move in groves whose dimensions are comparable to the size of the bacteria. Although both species sense the topology we propose that they derive different benefits from this ability in agreement with their different lifestyles.