Trait-specific dispersal of bacteria in heterogeneous porous environments: from pore to porous medium scale.

ABSTRACT: The dispersal of organisms controls the structure and dynamics of populations and communities, and can regulate ecosystem functioning. Predicting dispersal patterns across scales is important to understand microbial life in heterogeneous porous environments such as soils and sediments. We developed a multi-scale approach, combining experiments with microfluidic devices and time-lapse microscopy to track individual bacterial trajectories and measure the overall breakthrough curves and bacterial deposition profiles: we, then, linked the two scales with a novel stochastic model. We show that motile cells of Pseudomonas putida disperse more efficiently than non-motile mutants through a designed heterogeneous porous system. Motile cells can evade flow-imposed trajectories, enabling them

SUBMITTER: Scheidweiler D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7115230 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature