Tutorial for the growth and development of Myxococcus xanthus as a Model System at the Intersection of Biology and Physics

TL;DR

This tutorial introduces Myxococcus xanthus as a model organism for studying collective behaviors at the biology-physics interface, providing protocols and experimental examples for researchers.

Contribution

It offers a comprehensive guide on culturing and experimental procedures for M. xanthus, facilitating reproducible research in active matter and collective behavior studies.

Findings

Protocols for reliable culturing of M. xanthus

Examples of motility and development experiments

Guidance for reproducible sample preparation

Abstract

Myxococcus xanthus is a unicellular organism whose cells possess the ability to move and communicate, leading to the emergence of complex collective properties and behaviours. This has made it an ideal model system to study the emergence of collective behaviours in interdisciplinary research efforts lying at the intersection of biology and physics, especially in the growing field of active matter research. Often, challenges arise when setting up reliable and reproducible culturing protocols. This tutorial provides a clear and comprehensive guide on the culture, growth, development, and experimental sample preparation of \textit{M. xanthus}. Additionally, it includes some representative examples of experiments that can be conducted using these samples, namely motility assays, fruiting body formation, predation, and elasticotaxis.