A unique self-organization of bacterial sub-communities creates iridescence in Cellulophaga lytica colony biofilms
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| Date | 2016-01 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | English | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Author(s) | Kientz Betty1, Luke Stephen2, Vukusic Peter2, Peteri Renaud3, Beaudry Cyrille3, Renault Tristan4, Simon David3, Mignot Tam5, Rosenfeld Eric1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Affiliation(s) | 1 : Univ La Rochelle, Microbial Physiol Grp, UMR CNRS Littoral Environm & Soc 7266, Ave Michel Crepeau, F-17042 La Rochelle, France. 2 : Univ Exeter, Sch Phys, Exeter EX4 4QL, Devon, England. 3 : Univ La Rochelle, Lab Math Image & Applicat EA 3165, F-17042 La Rochelle, France. 4 : Inst Francais Rech & Exploitat Mer, Unite Sante Genet & Microbiol Mollusques, Lab Genet & Pathol Mollusques Marins, La Tremblade, France. 5 : Univ Aix Marseille, Inst Microbiol Mediterranee, CNRS, UMR 7283,Lab Chim Bacterienne, Marseille, France. |
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| Source | Scientific Reports (2045-2322) (Nature Publishing Group), 2016-01 , Vol. 6 , N. 19906 , P. 11p. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| DOI | 10.1038/srep19906 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WOS© Times Cited | 27 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | Iridescent color appearances are widespread in nature. They arise from the interaction of light with micron- and submicron-sized physical structures spatially arranged with periodic geometry and are usually associated with bright angle-dependent hues. Iridescence has been reported for many animals and marine organisms. However, iridescence has not been well studied in bacteria. Recently, we reported a brilliant “pointillistic” iridescence in colony biofilms of marine Flavobacteria that exhibit gliding motility. The mechanism of their iridescence is unknown. Here, using a multi-disciplinary approach, we show that the cause of iridescence is a unique periodicity of the cell population in the colony biofilm. Cells are arranged together to form hexagonal photonic crystals. Our model highlights a novel pattern of self-organization in a bacterial biofilm. ”Pointillistic” bacterial iridescence can be considered a new light-dependent phenomenon for the field of microbiology | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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