Emergent particle collection by cyanobacteria through gliding motility and filament buckling
Poon, R.; Cremin, K.; Scarampi, A.; Coates, M.; Thery, A.; soyer, o. s.
Show abstract
Cyanobacterial macrostructures are ubiquitous in nature. They harbour spatially organised metabolic processes that impact biogeochemistry and enable biotechnologies. How macrostructures form remains unknown due to a lack of tractable model systems. We overcome this limitation using a motile filamentous cyanobacterium that reproducibly forms macrostructures in laboratory conditions. We discover an emergent microparticle collection behaviour, mediated by gliding motility and leading to granular macrostructures. We link collection to filament buckling and entangling, and predict a dependence on filament length and stiffness, using a novel physical model. Shortened filaments and a naturally short Pseudanabaenales filament do not collect particles or form granular macrostructures. These findings link macrostructures to gliding motility and filament physics, giving insight into their formation in nature and design for biotechnologies.
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