ArticleBiophysical journal2010
Cell flexibility affects the alignment of model myxobacteria.
Article in Biophysical journal, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- Dissecting the physics of bacterial biofilms with agent-based simulations.Current opinion in solid state & materials science · 2025Article
- Effects of curvature on growing films of microorganisms.Biophysical journal · 2025Article
- Is it selfish to be filamentous in biofilms? Individual-based modeling links microbial growth strategies with morphology using the new and modular iDynoMiCS 2.0.PLoS computational biology · 2024Article
- Mechanical limitation of bacterial motility mediated by growing cell chains.Biophysical journal · 2022Article
- The Fluidity of the Bacterial Outer Membrane Is Species Specific: Bacterial Lifestyles and the Emergence of a Fluid Outer Membrane.BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology · 2020Article
- Mechanism for Collective Cell Alignment in Myxococcus xanthus Bacteria.PLoS computational biology · 2015Article
- Short-range guiding can result in the formation of circular aggregates in myxobacteria populations.PLoS computational biology · 2015Article
- Dual biochemical oscillators may control cellular reversals in Myxococcus xanthus.Biophysical journal · 2014Article
- A model of filamentous cyanobacteria leading to reticulate pattern formation.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2014Article
- Variable cell morphology approach for individual-based modeling of microbial communities.Biophysical journal · 2014Article
- Myxococcus xanthus gliding motors are elastically coupled to the substrate as predicted by the focal adhesion model of gliding motility.PLoS computational biology · 2014Article
- A mass-spring model unveils the morphogenesis of phototrophic Diatoma biofilms.Scientific reports · 2014Article
- Continuum modeling of clustering of myxobacteria.New journal of physics · 2013Article
- Modeling filamentous cyanobacteria reveals the advantages of long and fast trichomes for optimizing light exposure.PloS one · 2011Article
- Uncovering the mystery of gliding motility in the myxobacteria.Annual review of genetics · 2011Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Myxobacteria are social bacteria that exhibit a complex life cycle culminating in the development of multicellular fruiting bodies. The alignment of rod-shaped myxobacteria cells within populations is crucial for development to proceed. It has been suggested that myxobacteria align due to mechanical interactions between gliding cells and that cell flexibility facilitates reorientation of cells upon mechanical contact. However, these suggestions have not been based on experimental or theoretical evidence. Here we created a computational mass-spring model of a flexible rod-shaped cell that glides on a substratum periodically reversing direction. The model was formulated in terms of experimentally measurable mechanical parameters, such as engine force, bending stiffness, and drag coefficient. We investigated how cell flexibility and motility engine type affected the pattern of cell gliding and the alignment of a population of 500 mechanically interacting cells. It was found that a flexible cell powered by engine force at the rear of the cell, as suggested by the slime extrusion hypothesis for myxobacteria motility engine, would not be able to glide in the direction of its long axis. A population of rigid reversing cells could indeed align due to mechanical interactions between cells, but cell flexibility impaired the alignment.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.