A unique self-organization of bacterial sub-communities creates iridescence in Cellulophaga lytica colony biofilms

Scientific Reports
Betty KientzEric Rosenfeld

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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Citations

Feb 24, 2018·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Villads Egede JohansenSilvia Vignolini
Sep 9, 2017·Genome Announcements·Maylis Chapelais-BaronEric Rosenfeld
Oct 12, 2018·Antonie van Leeuwenhoek·Tiago R SilvaValéria M Oliveira
May 21, 2020·Journal of the Royal Society, Interface·Lukas SchertelVillads E Johansen
Oct 2, 2020·Faraday Discussions·Sébastien R MouchetPete Vukusic
Sep 21, 2018·Journal of the Royal Society, Interface·Anton KanJim Haseloff
Oct 24, 2017·Advanced Materials·Mathias Kolle, Seungwoo Lee
Jan 9, 2021·Microbiology Resource Announcements·Rebecca L MickolC Titus Brown
Mar 7, 2021·Journal of Fungi·Juliet BrodieSilvia Vignolini

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
electron microscopy
phase contrast microscopy
transmission electron microscopy

Software Mentioned

DEPTH UP / 3D
Comsol Multiphysics
Matlab
lytica

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