Local polar order controls mechanical stress and triggers layer formation in Myxococcus xanthus colonies
Abstract Colonies of the social bacterium Myxococcus xanthus go through a morphological transition from a thin colony of cells to three-dimensional droplet-like fruiting bodies as a strategy to survive starvation. The biological pathways that control the decision to form a fruiting body have been st...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55806-6 |
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| author | Endao Han Chenyi Fei Ricard Alert Katherine Copenhagen Matthias D. Koch Ned S. Wingreen Joshua W. Shaevitz |
| author_facet | Endao Han Chenyi Fei Ricard Alert Katherine Copenhagen Matthias D. Koch Ned S. Wingreen Joshua W. Shaevitz |
| author_sort | Endao Han |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Colonies of the social bacterium Myxococcus xanthus go through a morphological transition from a thin colony of cells to three-dimensional droplet-like fruiting bodies as a strategy to survive starvation. The biological pathways that control the decision to form a fruiting body have been studied extensively. However, the mechanical events that trigger the creation of multiple cell layers and give rise to droplet formation remain poorly understood. By measuring cell orientation, velocity, polarity, and force with cell-scale resolution, we reveal a stochastic local polar order in addition to the more obvious nematic order. Average cell velocity and active force at topological defects agree with predictions from active nematic theory, but their fluctuations are substantially larger than the mean due to polar active forces generated by the self-propelled rod-shaped cells. We find that M. xanthus cells adjust their reversal frequency to tune the magnitude of this local polar order, which in turn controls the mechanical stresses and triggers layer formation in the colonies. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-80195dec351049d7a0cafd70b6a5399d |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-80195dec351049d7a0cafd70b6a5399d2025-01-26T12:41:40ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-01-0116111010.1038/s41467-024-55806-6Local polar order controls mechanical stress and triggers layer formation in Myxococcus xanthus coloniesEndao Han0Chenyi Fei1Ricard Alert2Katherine Copenhagen3Matthias D. Koch4Ned S. Wingreen5Joshua W. Shaevitz6Joseph Henry Laboratories of Physics, Princeton UniversityLewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton UniversityMax Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex SystemsLewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton UniversityLewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton UniversityLewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton UniversityJoseph Henry Laboratories of Physics, Princeton UniversityAbstract Colonies of the social bacterium Myxococcus xanthus go through a morphological transition from a thin colony of cells to three-dimensional droplet-like fruiting bodies as a strategy to survive starvation. The biological pathways that control the decision to form a fruiting body have been studied extensively. However, the mechanical events that trigger the creation of multiple cell layers and give rise to droplet formation remain poorly understood. By measuring cell orientation, velocity, polarity, and force with cell-scale resolution, we reveal a stochastic local polar order in addition to the more obvious nematic order. Average cell velocity and active force at topological defects agree with predictions from active nematic theory, but their fluctuations are substantially larger than the mean due to polar active forces generated by the self-propelled rod-shaped cells. We find that M. xanthus cells adjust their reversal frequency to tune the magnitude of this local polar order, which in turn controls the mechanical stresses and triggers layer formation in the colonies.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55806-6 |
| spellingShingle | Endao Han Chenyi Fei Ricard Alert Katherine Copenhagen Matthias D. Koch Ned S. Wingreen Joshua W. Shaevitz Local polar order controls mechanical stress and triggers layer formation in Myxococcus xanthus colonies Nature Communications |
| title | Local polar order controls mechanical stress and triggers layer formation in Myxococcus xanthus colonies |
| title_full | Local polar order controls mechanical stress and triggers layer formation in Myxococcus xanthus colonies |
| title_fullStr | Local polar order controls mechanical stress and triggers layer formation in Myxococcus xanthus colonies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Local polar order controls mechanical stress and triggers layer formation in Myxococcus xanthus colonies |
| title_short | Local polar order controls mechanical stress and triggers layer formation in Myxococcus xanthus colonies |
| title_sort | local polar order controls mechanical stress and triggers layer formation in myxococcus xanthus colonies |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55806-6 |
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