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arXiv · 1709.06012

A self-driven phase transition drives Myxococcus xanthus fruiting body formation

Guannan Liu·Adam Patch·Fatmagul Bahar·David Yllanes·Roy D. Welch·M. Cristina Marchetti·Shashi Thutupalli·Joshua W. Shaevitz
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Abstract

Combining high-resolution single cell tracking experiments with numerical simulations, we show that starvation-induced fruiting body (FB) formation in Myxococcus xanthus is a phase separation driven by cells that tune their motility over time. The phase separation can be understood in terms of cell density and a dimensionless Peclet number that captures cell motility through speed and reversal frequency. Our work suggests that M. xanthus take advantage of a self-driven non-equilibrium phase transition that can be controlled at the single cell level.

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Guannan Liu, Adam Patch, Fatmagul Bahar, David Yllanes, Roy D. Welch, M. Cristina Marchetti, Shashi Thutupalli, Joshua W. Shaevitz. 2017-09-18. A self-driven phase transition drives Myxococcus xanthus fruiting body formation. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.122.248102

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