Large-Scale Vortices with Dynamic Rotation Emerged from Monolayer Collective Motion of Gliding <i>Flavobacteria</i>
Daisuke Nakane, Shoko Odaka, Kana Suzuki, Takayuki Nishizaka
Abstract
Self-propelled bacteria propelled by flagellar rotation often display highly organized dynamic patterns at high cell densities. Here, we found a new mode of collective motion in nonflagellated bacteria; vortex patterns spontaneously appeared as lattice and were integrated into a large-scale circular plate, comprising hundreds of thousands of cells, which exhibited unidirectional rotation in a counterclockwise manner and expanded in size on agar. A series of collective motions was driven by gliding motility of the rod-shaped soil bacterium Flavobacterium johnsoniae. In a low-nutrient environment, single cells moved with random orientation, while cells at high density moved together as a unitary cluster. This might be an efficient strategy for cells of this species to find nutrients.