Single cell bacterial oscillators

Abstract

Life at low-Reynolds numbers regime is intriguing. Single motile bacteria are known to exhibit erratic behaviour; they swim in what is known as a random walk, alternating between periods of swimming straight and abrupt moments of re-orientation. Yet in dense populations, cells of E.coli have been reported to exhibit weak synchronization and self-organize into collective oscillatory motion patterns. However, the origin of this rhythmic behaviour remains largely unknown. Here, we present a method of inducing self-sustained oscillations over minute timescales in single E.coli cells by trapping them in circular microcavities. By engineering the size of these microwells, we show that the velocity of single E.coli can be tuned between speeds ranging from a few to 20 um/s. Furthermore, we show that by connecting the microwells via on-chip channels, E.coli tend to coordinate their motion through hydrodynamic interaction and exhibit collective dynamics. Using analytical modeling, we extract the coupling strength and design the channels to mediate synchronized oscillation between two bacterial oscillators. Our work not only advances our understanding of the collective dynamics of swarming bacteria but also provides the first evidence for single-cell bacterial oscillators, paving the way to using micro-organism-inspired oscillations in applications as varied as antibiotic screening, scientific computing and micro-swimmers.