A transition to stable one-dimensional swimming enhances E. coli motility through narrow channels

Gaszton Vizsnyiczai, Giacomo Frangipane, Silvio Bianchi, Filippo Saglimbeni, Dario Dell’Arciprete and Roberto Di Leonardo ()
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Gaszton Vizsnyiczai: Sapienza University of Rome
Giacomo Frangipane: Sapienza University of Rome
Silvio Bianchi: Soft and Living Matter Laboratory
Filippo Saglimbeni: Soft and Living Matter Laboratory
Dario Dell’Arciprete: Sapienza University of Rome
Roberto Di Leonardo: Sapienza University of Rome

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract Living organisms often display adaptive strategies that allow them to move efficiently even in strong confinement. With one single degree of freedom, the angle of a rotating bundle of flagella, bacteria provide one of the simplest examples of locomotion in the living world. Here we show that a purely physical mechanism, depending on a hydrodynamic stability condition, is responsible for a confinement induced transition between two swimming states in E. coli. While in large channels bacteria always crash onto confining walls, when the cross section falls below a threshold, they leave the walls to move swiftly on a stable swimming trajectory along the channel axis. We investigate this phenomenon for individual cells that are guided through a sequence of micro-fabricated tunnels of decreasing cross section. Our results challenge current theoretical predictions and suggest effective design principles for microrobots by showing that motility based on helical propellers provides a robust swimming strategy for exploring narrow spaces.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-15711-0

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