‘Phase transitions’ in bacteria – From structural transitions in free living bacteria to phenotypic transitions in bacteria within biofilms |
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| Institution: | 1. School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China;2. John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, 9 Oxford St, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA;3. Gonville & Caius College, University of Cambridge, Trinity St., Cambridge CB2 1TA, UK;4. Institute of Biomechanics and Medical Engineering, Department of Engineering Mechanics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China;5. Department of Physics, Harvard University, 9 Oxford St, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA;1. Université du Québec a Montréal, Faculté des arts et des sciences - Département d''informatique et de recherche opérationnelle, 3150 Jean Brillant St, Montreal, H3T 1N8, Quebec, Canada;2. VERSES, Los Angeles, CA, USA;3. Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK;1. Dept. of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States;2. CIFICEN (CONICET-CICPBA-UNCPBA) and INTIA (UNCPBA-CICPBA), Exact Sciences Faculty-UNCPBA, Tandil, Argentina;3. National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Argentina;1. Centre for Philosophical Psychology, Universiteit Antwerpen, Belgium;2. Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany;3. Department of Psychology, Amsterdam Brain and Cognition, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands;1. Rehabilitation Center Valens, CH-7317 Valens, Switzerland;2. University Hospital of Psychiatry, CH-8032 Zurich, Switzerland |
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| Abstract: | Phase transitions are common in inanimate systems and have been studied extensively in natural sciences. Less explored are the rich transitions that take place at the micro- and nano-scales in biological systems. In conventional phase transitions, large-scale properties of the media change discontinuously in response to continuous changes in external conditions. Such changes play a significant role in the dynamic behaviours of organisms. In this review, we focus on some transitions in both free-living and biofilms of bacteria. Particular attention is paid to the transitions in the flagellar motors and filaments of free-living bacteria, in cellular gene expression during the biofilm growth, in the biofilm morphology transitions during biofilm expansion, and in the cell motion pattern transitions during the biofilm formation. We analyse the dynamic characteristics and biophysical mechanisms of these phase transition phenomena and point out the parallels between these transitions and conventional phase transitions. We also discuss the applications of some theoretical and numerical methods, established for conventional phase transitions in inanimate systems, in bacterial biofilms. |
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| Keywords: | Phase transitions in bacteria Flagellar structure Biofilm Phenotype Morphology |
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