Hybrid sideways/longitudinal swimming in the monoflagellate Shewanella oneidensis: from aerotactic band to biofilm

TL;DR

This study uncovers a hybrid swimming behavior in Shewanella oneidensis that combines different motility modes, revealing mechanisms behind their collective aerotactic behavior and biofilm formation, with implications for energy and bioremediation technologies.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive framework for studying aerotaxis and reveals a novel hybrid locomotion pattern in Shewanella oneidensis with only one flagellum.

Findings

Discovered hybrid sideways/longitudinal swimming pattern.

Linked bimodal velocity tuning to biological functions.

Elucidated mechanisms from aerotactic band to biofilm formation.

Abstract

Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 are facultative aerobic electroactive bacteria, with an appealing potential for sustainable energy production and bioremediation. They gather around air sources, forming aerotactic bands and biofilms. Though accumulation is crucial to technological exploitation, their collective behaviour remains poorly reported. Here we establish a comprehensive framework for the study of aerotaxis, unveiling a novel hybrid locomotion pattern. Despite having only one flagellum, MR-1 combine motility features of mono- and multiflagellate bacteria, alternating longitudinal fast and sideways slow swimming. The adaptive tuning of the resulting bimodal velocity distributions fulfils different biological functions, such as aerotaxis and confinement. Overall, we reveal the mechanisms underlying the aerotactic collective behaviour of MR-1, in the process leading from accumulation to biofilm formation