Visualization of flagellar interactions on bacterial carpets

Abstract

Methods for the in-depth study of the physics of microscale actuation of microfluidics environments by flagellated bacteria 'teamsters' have been developed. These methods, which include single and multi-colour fluorescent labelling and electron microscopy allow for the analysis of the effect that individual flagellar filaments have on bacterially driven microstructures, and allow for the investigation of the interaction and coordination of flagellar filaments of neighbouring bacteria on densely packed monolayers of bacteria, 'bacterial carpets'. We show that the flagella of bacteria that are immobilized on a surface often interact with each other, and that the flagella of these bacteria do not often form multi-flagella bundles that are aligned with the cell body.