Abstract
Response to mechanical force is a well characterised phenomenon in eukaryotic organisms, helping to organise multicellular structures. Mechanotactic responses have only rarely been observed in prokaryotic taxa. This work reports on a morphological change due to variations in applied force and surface structure by Bacillus mycoides Flügge. B. mycoides is a ubiquitous soil organism well known among microbiologists for its characteristic spreading colony morphology. An apparent mechanotactic response is elicited by physical deformation of the gel media on which B.mycoides is growing, including applied forces of compression or tension. Variations in the surface such as curvature produced by casting the agar gel in the presence of curved objects also elicited the change. The morphological change in B.mycoides colonies associated with the application of force manifests as a pattern of parallel rhizoid filaments perpendicular to compressing force and parallel to stretching force in the agar medium. The phenomenon is most clearly demonstrated by reversible changes in the orientation of B. mycoides filaments during time-lapse microscopy.
Highlights
Bacillus mycoides Flugge is a member of the Firmicutes, low GC gram positive bacteria of ancient phylogeny
B. mycoides is regarded as a saprophytic organism, which makes it ecologically distinct from its more pathogenic close relatives [4]
To determine if B. mycoides morphology could change in response to nutrients, a wide range of soluble sugars and amino acids were deposited in 10 mm wells cut into standard plate count agar (PCA) agar using a sterile cork borer
Summary
Bacillus mycoides Flugge is a member of the Firmicutes, low GC gram positive bacteria of ancient phylogeny. To determine if B. mycoides morphology could change in response to nutrients, a wide range of soluble sugars and amino acids were deposited in 10 mm wells cut into standard PCA agar using a sterile cork borer. To determine if the response was coordinated at a colony level or at the level of individual filaments, both compressive and stretching strain were introduced simultaneously in a single section of agar and a single colony allowed to over-grow both regions.
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