Bacteria make a beeline to escape tight spaces

Date:
May 3, 2022
Source:
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Summary:
A newly published study has revealed that bacteria alter their
swimming patterns when they get into tight spaces -- making a
beeline to escape from confinement.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A newly published study by researchers at the University of Hawai'i at
Manoa revealed that bacteria alter their swimming patterns when they
get into tight spaces -- making a beeline to escape from confinement.


========================================================================== Nearly all organisms host bacteria that live symbiotically on or within
their bodies. The Hawaiian bobtail squid, Euprymna scolopes, forms
an exclusive symbiotic relationship with the marine bacterium Vibrio
fischeri which has a whip-like tail that it uses to swim to specific
places in the squid's body.

A research team, led by Jonathan Lynch, who was a postdoctoral fellow at
the Pacific Biosciences Research Center (PBRC) at the UH Manoa School
of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), designed controlled
chambers in which they could observe the Vibrio bacteria swimming. Using microscopy, the team discovered that as the bacteria moved between open
areas and tight spaces they swim differently. Specifically, they change
their swimming behavior to avoid getting stuck in confined spaces.

"This finding was quite surprising," said Lynch, who is now a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Los Angeles. "At first, we were
looking for how bacterial cells changed the shape of their tails when
they moved into tight spaces, but discovered that we were having trouble actually finding cells in the tight spaces. After looking more closely,
we figured out that it was because the bacteria were actively swimming
out of the tight spaces, which we did not expect." In open spaces,
without chemicals to be attracted to or repelled from, bacteria appeared
to meander with no discernible pattern -- changing direction randomly
and at different points in time. Upon entry into confined spaces, the
bacteria straightened their swimming paths to escape from confinement.

The relationship between the squid and this bacterium is a useful
model of how bacteria live with other animals, such as the human
microbiome. Microbes often traverse complicated routes, sometimes
squeezing through tight spaces in tissues, before colonizing preferred
sites in their host organism. A variety of chemicals and nutrients
within hosts are known to guide bacteria toward their eventual
destination. However, less is known about how physical features like
walls, corners, and tight spaces affect bacterial swimming, despite the
fact that these physical features are found across many bacteria-animal relationships.

"Our findings demonstrate that tight spaces may serve as an additional,
crucial cue for bacteria while they navigate complex environments to
enter specific habitats," said Lynch. "Changing swimming patterns in tight spaces may allow some bacteria to quickly swim through the tight spaces to
get to the other side, but for the others, they turn around before the get stuck -- kind of like choosing whether to run across a rickety bridge or
turn around before you go too far." In the future, the researchers hope
to figure out how these bacteria are changing their swimming activity,
as well as determining if other bacteria show the same behaviors.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided
by University_of_Hawaii_at_Manoa. Original written by Marcie
Grabowski. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Jonathan B. Lynch, Nicholas James, Margaret McFall-Ngai, Edward
G. Ruby,
Sangwoo Shin, Daisuke Takagi. Transitioning to confined spaces
impacts bacterial swimming and escape response. Biophysical Journal,
2022; DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2022.04.008 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/05/220503083119.htm

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