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Yale engineers track bacteria's kayak paddle-like motion for first time
September 28, 2009New Haven, Conn.-Yale engineers have for the first time observed and tracked E. coli bacteria moving in a liquid medium with a motion similar to that of a kayak paddle.
Their findings, which appear online September 29 in the journal Physical Review Letters, will help lead to a better understanding of how bacteria move from place to place and, potentially, how to keep them from spreading.
Scientists have long theorized that the cigar-shaped cell bodies of E. coli and other microorganisms would follow periodic orbits that resemble the motion of a kayak paddle as they drift downstream in a current. Until now, no one had managed to directly observe or track those movements.
Hur Koser, associate professor at Yale's School of Engineering & Applied Science, previously discovered that hydrodynamic interactions between the bacteria and the current align the bacteria in a way that allows them to swim upstream. "They find the most efficient route to migrate upstream, and we ultimately want to understand the mechanism that allows them to do that," Koser said.
In the new study, Koser, along with postdoctoral associate and lead author of the paper, Tolga Kaya, devised a method to see this motion in progress. They used advanced computer and imaging technology, along with sophisticated new algorithms, that allowed them to take millions of high-resolution images of tens of thousands of individual, non-flagellated E. coli drifting in a water and glycerin solution, which amplified the bacteria's paddle-like movements.
The team characterized the bacteria's motion as a function of both their length and distance from the surface. The team found that the longer and closer to the surface they were, the slower the E. coli "paddled."
It took the engineers months to perfect the intricate camera and computer system that allowed them to take 60 to 100 sequential images per second, then automatically and efficiently analyze the huge amount of resulting data.
E. coli and other bacteria can colonize wherever there is water and sufficient nutrients, including the human digestive tract. They encounter currents in many settings, from riverbeds to home plumbing to irrigation systems for large-scale agriculture.
"Understanding the physics of bacterial movement could potentially lead to breakthroughs in the prevention of bacterial migration and sickness," Koser said. "This might be possible through mechanical means that make it more difficult for bacteria to swim upstream and contaminate water supplies, without resorting to antibiotics or other chemicals."
Yale University
Hur Koser, associate professor at Yale's School of Engineering & Applied Science, previously discovered that hydrodynamic interactions between the bacteria and the current align the bacteria in a way that allows them to swim upstream. "They find the most efficient route to migrate upstream, and we ultimately want to understand the mechanism that allows them to do that," Koser said.
In the new study, Koser, along with postdoctoral associate and lead author of the paper, Tolga Kaya, devised a method to see this motion in progress. They used advanced computer and imaging technology, along with sophisticated new algorithms, that allowed them to take millions of high-resolution images of tens of thousands of individual, non-flagellated E. coli drifting in a water and glycerin solution, which amplified the bacteria's paddle-like movements.
The team characterized the bacteria's motion as a function of both their length and distance from the surface. The team found that the longer and closer to the surface they were, the slower the E. coli "paddled."
It took the engineers months to perfect the intricate camera and computer system that allowed them to take 60 to 100 sequential images per second, then automatically and efficiently analyze the huge amount of resulting data.
E. coli and other bacteria can colonize wherever there is water and sufficient nutrients, including the human digestive tract. They encounter currents in many settings, from riverbeds to home plumbing to irrigation systems for large-scale agriculture.
"Understanding the physics of bacterial movement could potentially lead to breakthroughs in the prevention of bacterial migration and sickness," Koser said. "This might be possible through mechanical means that make it more difficult for bacteria to swim upstream and contaminate water supplies, without resorting to antibiotics or other chemicals."
Yale University
Scripps scientists create first crystal structure of an intermediate particle in virus assembly
The structure, described February 8 in an advance online publication of the journal Nature, provides fresh insights into the elegant dance that viral proteins perform to create the infectious structure that causes all manner of misery and disease, say researchers.
Poultry workers at increased risk of carrying antibiotic-resistant E. coli
Poultry workers in the United States are 32 times more likely to carry E. coli bacteria resistant to the commonly used antibiotic, gentamicin, than others outside the poultry industry, according to a recent study conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Cornell scientists link E. coli bacteria to Crohn's disease
A team of Cornell University scientists from the College of Veterinary Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences have discovered that a novel group of E. coli bacteria - containing genes similar to those described in uropathogenic and avian pathogenic E. coli and enteropathogenic bacteria such as salmonella, cholera, bubonic plague - is associated with intestinal inflammation in patients with Crohn's disease.
Compounds in cranberry juice show promise as alternatives to antibiotics
Compounds in cranberry juice have the ability to change E. coli bacteria, a class of microorganisms responsible for a host of human illnesses (everything from kidney infections to gastroenteritis to tooth decay), in ways that render them unable to initiate an infection.
Probiotic bacteria at weaning may help alleviate allergy in infants
“Friendly” bacteria (probiotics) given to babies during weaning may help alleviate the symptoms of eczema, suggests research in Gut.
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