Bacteria-on-a-bead: probing the hydrodynamic interplay of dynamic cell appendages during cell separation

Abstract

Surface attachment of bacteria is the first step of biofilm formation and is often mediated and coordinated by the extracellular appendages, flagellum and pili. The model organism Caulobacter crescentus undergoes an asymmetric division cycle, giving rise to a motile “swarmer cell” and a sessile “stalked cell”, which is attached to the surface. In the highly polarized predivisional cell, pili and flagellum, which are assembled at the pole opposite the stalk, are both activated before and during the process of cell separation. We explored the interplay of flagellum and active pili by growing predivisional cells on colloidal beads, creating a bacteria-on-a-bead system. Using this set-up, we were able to simultaneously visualize the bacterial motility and analyze the dynamics of the flagellum and pili during cell separation. The observed activities of flagellum and pili at the new cell pole of the predivisional cell result in a cooperating interplay of the appendages during approaching and attaching to a surface. Even in presence of a functioning flagellum, pili are capable of surface attachment and keeping the cell in position. Moreover, while flagellar rotation decreases the average attachment time of a single pilus, it increases the overall attachment rate of pili in a synergetic manner.