Dresden 2017 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 3: Mechanics and Dynamics of 3D Tissues - Joint Focus Session (BP/CPP/DY) organized by Peter Loskill
BP 3.9: Talk
Monday, March 20, 2017, 12:30–12:45, SCH A251
Type IV pili govern the internal dynamics of Neisseria gonorrhoeae microcolonies. — •Wolfram Pönisch1, Christoph Weber2, Khaled Alzurqa3, Hadi Nasrollahi3, Kelly Eckenrode3, Nicolas Biais3, and Zaburdaev Vasily1 — 1Max Planck Institut für Physik Komplexer Systeme, Dresden — 2Harvard University, Cambridge — 3Brooklyn College, New York
An important step in the evolution of biofilms is the formation of microcolonies, agglomerates of cells that can consists of several thousands of cells. For many pathogenic bacteria, i.e. N. gonorrhoeae or P. aeruginosa, the attractive cell-cell-interactions required for microcolonies to form are mediated by micron-long and thin appendages, the called type IV pili. We are interested in the pili-mediated dynamics of individual bacteria within microcolonies and how they affect the properties of the agglomerates. In experiments, we observe a gradient of motility of cells of N. gonorrhoeae, depending on their position within a colony. We will present a computational model of cells interacting via individual pili. It allows us to model microcolonies on biologically relevant temporal and spatial scales and is able to reproduce the differential motility of cells within a colony. Furthermore, it enables us to study quantities that are not yet accessible by experiments, e.g. the cell density within a colony, the pili-mediated cell forces and force fluctuations and the internal structure of the colonies. Finally, we will present how the assembly and morphology of microcolonies is affected by the pili properties, particularly for mixtures of cell populations characterized by mutations of their pilus apparatus.