Journal ArticleDOI
Escherichia coli swim on the right-hand side
Willow R. DiLuzio,Linda Turner,Michael Mayer,Piotr Garstecki,Douglas B. Weibel,Howard C. Berg,George M. Whitesides +6 more
TLDR
It is proposed that when cells are confined between two interfaces—one an agar gel and the second PDMS—they swim closer to the agar surface than to the PDMS surface, leading to the preferential movement on the right of the microchannel, and the choice of materials guides the motion of cells in microchannels.Abstract:
The motion of peritrichously flagellated bacteria close to surfaces is relevant to understanding the early stages of biofilm formation and of pathogenic infection. This motion differs from the random-walk trajectories of cells in free solution. Individual Escherichia coli cells swim in clockwise, circular trajectories near planar glass surfaces. On a semi-solid agar substrate, cells differentiate into an elongated, hyperflagellated phenotype and migrate cooperatively over the surface, a phenomenon called swarming. We have developed a technique for observing isolated E. coli swarmer cells moving on an agar substrate and confined in shallow, oxidized poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) microchannels. Here we show that cells in these microchannels preferentially 'drive on the right', swimming preferentially along the right wall of the microchannel (viewed from behind the moving cell, with the agar on the bottom). We propose that when cells are confined between two interfaces--one an agar gel and the second PDMS--they swim closer to the agar surface than to the PDMS surface (and for much longer periods of time), leading to the preferential movement on the right of the microchannel. Thus, the choice of materials guides the motion of cells in microchannels.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
The hydrodynamics of swimming microorganisms
Eric Lauga,Thomas R. Powers +1 more
TL;DR: The biophysical and mechanical principles of locomotion at the small scales relevant to cell swimming, tens of micrometers and below are reviewed, with emphasis on the simple physical picture and fundamental flow physics phenomena in this regime.
Journal ArticleDOI
Active Particles in Complex and Crowded Environments
Clemens Bechinger,Roberto Di Leonardo,Hartmut Löwen,Charles Reichhardt,Giorgio Volpe,Giovanni Volpe +5 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide a guided tour through the development of artificial self-propelling microparticles and nanoparticles and their application to the study of nonequilibrium phenomena, as well as the open challenges that the field is currently facing.
Journal ArticleDOI
Making molecular machines work
Wesley R. Browne,Ben L. Feringa +1 more
TL;DR: This review will address the advances towards the construction of synthetic machines that can perform useful functions, including molecular rotors, elevators, valves, transporters, muscles and other motor functions used to develop smart materials.
Journal ArticleDOI
Active Brownian Particles in Complex and Crowded Environments
Clemens Bechinger,Roberto Di Leonardo,Hartmut Löwen,Charles Reichhardt,Giorgio Volpe,Giovanni Volpe +5 more
TL;DR: Active Brownian particles, also referred to as microswimmers and nanoswimmers, are biological or manmade microscopic and nanoscopic particles that can self-propel as mentioned in this paper.
Journal ArticleDOI
Physics of microswimmers--single particle motion and collective behavior: a review.
TL;DR: The physics of locomotion of biological and synthetic microswimmers, and the collective behavior of their assemblies, are reviewed and the hydrodynamic aspects of swimming are addressed.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Chemotaxis in Escherichia coli analysed by Three-dimensional Tracking
Howard C. Berg,Douglas A. Brown +1 more
TL;DR: Chemotaxis toward amino-acids results from the suppression of directional changes which occur spontaneously in isotropic solutions.
Journal ArticleDOI
Genetic analysis of Escherichia coli biofilm formation: roles of flagella, motility, chemotaxis and type I pili
Leslie A. Pratt,Roberto Kolter +1 more
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that E. coli forms biofilms on multiple abiotic surfaces in a nutrient‐dependent fashion and type I pili (harbouring the mannose‐specific adhesin, FimH) are required for initial surface attachment and thatMannose inhibits normal attachment.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Rotary Motor of Bacterial Flagella
TL;DR: Flagellated bacteria, such as Escherichia coli, swim by rotating thin helical filaments, each driven at its base by a reversible rotary motor, powered by an ion flux.
Journal ArticleDOI
Bacterial motility on a surface: many ways to a common goal.
TL;DR: This review focuses mainly on surface motility and makes comparisons to features shared by other surface phenomenon.
Journal ArticleDOI
Bacteria Swim by Rotating their Flagellar Filaments
TL;DR: It is shown here that existing evidence favours a model in which each filament rotates, which is commonly believed that each filament propagates a helical wave3.