Bacterial population solitary waves can defeat rings of funnels
We made microfluidic 'funnels' that would normally funnel bacteria out, but under certain conditions can be defeated by population waves of such bacteria.
Abstract
We have constructed a microfabricated circular corral for bacteria made of rings of concentric funnels which channel motile bacteria outwards via non-hydrodynamic interactions with the funnel walls. Initially bacteria do move rapidly outwards to the periphery of the corral. At the edge, nano-slits allow for the transport of nutrients into the device while keeping the bacteria from escaping. After a period of time in which the bacteria increase their cell density in this perimeter region, they are then able to defeat the physical constrains of the funnels by launching back-propagating collective waves. We present the basic data and some nonlinear modeling which can explain how bacterial population waves propagate through a physical funnel, and discuss possible biological implications.
Citation
Morris, R. J., Phan, T. V., Black, M., Lin, K. C., Kevrekidis, I. G., Bos, J. A., & Austin, R. H. (2017). Bacterial population solitary waves can defeat rings of funnels. New Journal of Physics, 19(3), 035002.