Bacteria Use "Batman" Like Grappling Hooks

Posted by: Mike Pallante on July 27, 2011 at 3:54PM
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In a study published online the week of the July 17 2011 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, UCLA researches announced the discovery of certain bacteria's use of a "Batman" like grappling hook to move over surfaces.

Bacteria, Batman and Twitching

Before bacteria form a proper biofilm, or sticky slime that roots them to surfaces, they must use specialized appendages to move through their environment. Biochemists at UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science and the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) at UCLA have studied Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacteria associated with the development of cystic fibrosis, under high speed cameras to determine how it moves before settling into its biofilm home. The camera allowed the biochemists to observe a “twitching” behavior of individual cells.
The movement of these particular cells is a jerking, erratic motion - described as twitching - aided by very fine, hair-like appendages known as TFP. By studying the motion closely, scientists were able to discover that, by gauging the speed and angle of the cell's micro-movements, the cells were using their TFP like grappling hooks to latch onto distant surfaces and slingshot around their environment. The behavior is not unlike Batman's trademark gizmo used to slingshot around Gotham city in a pinch.

Tell Tale Cellular Twitching & Cell Tracking

"If you look at the surfaces the bacteria have to move on, they are usually covered in goop. Bacterial cells secrete polysaccharides on surfaces, which are kind of like molasses," Said Gerard Wong, a professor of bioengineering at UCLA who worked on the study when speaking to UCLA newsroom writer Wileen Wong Kromhout. "Because these polysaccharides are long polymer molecules that can get entangled, these are very viscous and can potentially impede movement. However, if you move very fast in these polymer fluids, the viscosity becomes much lower compared to when you're moving slowly. The fluid will then seem more like water than molasses. This kind of phenomenon is well known to chemical engineers and physicists."

The particular “twitching” motion, or the angle, speed and distance at which they use their “grappling hooks” is unique to each cell as it depends on the distribution of TFP. Wong commented that with enough research, future scientists might use this research to track individual cells within bacterial colonies by their tell tale twitch.

The Questional Question

What kind of benefits might researches reap from individual bacterial cell tracking?