ArticleBMC biology2022
Design and construction of 3D printed devices to investigate active and passive bacterial dispersal on hydrated surfaces.
Article in BMC biology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Diverse Bacterial Properties Influence Dispersal Along Fungal Networks.Journal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Article
- Methods for evaluating bacterial dispersal on hyphal networks.microLife · 2026Article
- Assessing the speed of individual bacteria dispersing on mycelial networks.Evolutionary ecology · 2025Article
- Fabricated devices for performing bacterial-fungal interaction experiments across scales.Frontiers in microbiology · 2024Review
- Host and nonhost bacteria support bacteriophage dissemination along mycelia and abiotic dispersal networks.microLife · 2024Article
- Spatial scales of competition and a growth-motility trade-off interact to determine bacterial coexistence.Royal Society open science · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundTo disperse in water-unsaturated environments, such as the soil, bacteria rely on the availability and structure of water films forming on biotic and abiotic surfaces, and, especially, along fungal mycelia. Dispersal along such "fungal highways" may be driven both by mycelial physical properties and by interactions between bacteria and fungi. However, we still do not have a way to disentangle the biotic and abiotic elements.
resultsWe designed and 3D printed two devices establishing stable liquid films that support bacteria dispersal in the absence of biotic interactions. The thickness of the liquid film determined the presence of hydraulic flow capable of transporting non-motile cells. In the absence of flow, only motile cells can disperse in the presence of an energy source. Non-motile cells could not disperse autonomously without flow but dispersed as "hitchhikers" when co-inoculated with motile cells.
conclusionsThe 3D printed devices can be used as an abiotic control to study bacterial dispersal on hydrated surfaces, such as plant roots and fungal hyphae networks in the soil. By teasing apart the abiotic and biotic dimensions, these 3D printed devices will stimulate further research on microbial dispersal in soil and other water-unsaturated environments.
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