Quantification of Myxococcus xanthus Aggregation and Rippling Behaviors: Deep-Learning Transformation of Phase-Contrast into Fluorescence Microscopy Images.

ABSTRACT: Myxococcus xanthus bacteria are a model system for understanding pattern formation and collective cell behaviors. When starving, cells aggregate into fruiting bodies to form metabolically inert spores. During predation, cells self-organize into traveling cell-density waves termed ripples. Both phase-contrast and fluorescence microscopy are used to observe these patterns but each has its limitations. Phase-contrast images have higher contrast, but the resulting image intensities lose their correlation with cell density. The intensities of fluorescence microscopy images, on the other hand, are well-correlated with cell density, enabling better segmentation of aggregates and better visualization of streaming patterns in between aggregates; however, fluorescence microscopy requires the enginee

SUBMITTER: Zhang J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8468851 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature