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Archives of Industrial Hygiene and Toxicology, Vol. 71 No. 3, 2020.

Original scientific paper

https://doi.org/10.2478/aiht-2020-71-3436

Capillary bacterial migration on non-nutritive solid surfaces

Tomislav Ivanković ; University of Zagreb Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Zagreb, Croatia
Uzi Hadad ; Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Ilse Katz Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Beer-Sheva, Israel
Ariel Kushmaro ; Ben Gurion University of the Negev Faculty of Engineering Sciences, Avram and Stella Goldstein-Goren Department of Biotechnology Engineering, Beer-Sheva, Israel 3 Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Ilse Katz Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Beer-Sheva, Israel
Svjetlana Dekić ; University of Zagreb Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Zagreb, Croatia
Josipa Ćevid ; University of Zagreb Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Zagreb, Croatia
Marko Percela ; University of Zagreb Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Zagreb, Croatia
Jasna Hrenović ; University of Zagreb Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Zagreb, Croatia

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Abstract

Here we describe an additional type of bacterial migration in which bacterial cells migrate vertically across a non-nutritive solid surface carried by capillary forces. Unlike standard motility experiments, these were run on a glass slide inserted into a Falcon tube, partly immersed in a nutrient medium and partly exposed to air. Observations revealed that capillary forces initiated upward cell migration when biofilm was formed at the border between liquid and air. The movement was facilitated by the production of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). This motility differs from earlier described swarming, twitching, gliding, sliding, or surfing, although these types of movements are not excluded. We therefore propose to call it “capillary movement of biofilm”. This phenomenon may be an ecologically important mode of bacterial motility on solid surfaces.

Keywords

Acinetobacter; air/liquid interface; Bacillus; biofilm; microscopy; Pseudomonas; Staphylococcus; surface motility

Hrčak ID:

243874

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/243874

Publication date:

22.9.2020.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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