The idiosyncrasy of spatial structure in bacterial competition

Background The spatial structure of a habitat can have a strong impact on community dynamics. Different experimental approaches exist to explore the effect of spatial structure on bacterial communities. To investigate the effect of ‘space’, a single implementation of spatial structure is often contrasted to bacterial community dynamics in well...

Nutrient-responsive regulation determines biodiversity in a colicin-mediated bacterial community

Background: Antagonistic interactions mediated by antibiotics are strong drivers of bacterial community dynamics which shape biodiversity. Colicin production by Escherichia coli is such an interaction that governs intraspecific competition and is involved in promoting biodiversity. It is unknown how environmental cues affect regulation of the...

Bacterial growth and motility in sub-micron constrictions

In many naturally occurring habitats, bacteria live in micrometer-size confined spaces. Although bacterial growth and motility in such constrictions is of great interest to fields as varied as soil microbiology, water purification, and biomedical research, quantitative studies of the effects of confinement on bacteria have been limited. Here, we...