Polymer-induced phase separation in suspensions of bacteria

J. Schwarz-Linek; G. Dorken; A. Winkler; L. G. Wilson; N. T. Pham; Chris French; T. Schilling; Wilson Poon

doi:10.1209/0295-5075/89/68003

Polymer-induced phase separation in suspensions of bacteria

J. Schwarz-Linek, G. Dorken, A. Winkler, L. G. Wilson, N. T. Pham, Chris French, T. Schilling, Wilson Poon

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

We study phase separation in suspensions of two unrelated species of rod-like bacteria, Escherichia coli and Sinorhizobium meliloti, induced by the addition of two different anionic polyelectrolytes, sodium polystyrene sulfonate or succinoglycan, the former being synthetic and the latter of natural origin. Comparison with the known behaviour of synthetic colloid-polymer mixtures and with simulations show that "depletion" (or, equivalently, "macromolecular crowding") is the dominant mechanism: exclusion of the non-adsorbing polymer from the region between two neighbouring bacteria creates an unbalanced osmotic force pushing them together. The implications of our results for understanding phenomena such as biofilm formation are discussed. Copyright (c) EPLA, 2010

Original language	English
Article number	68003
Pages (from-to)	-
Number of pages	6
Journal	European Physical Society Letters (EPL)
Volume	89
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/89/68003
Publication status	Published - Mar 2010

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

ESCHERICHIA-COLI
LIGHT-SCATTERING
AGGREGATION
SUCCINOGLYCAN
ADSORPTION
MIXTURES
BEHAVIOR

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title = "Polymer-induced phase separation in suspensions of bacteria",

abstract = "We study phase separation in suspensions of two unrelated species of rod-like bacteria, Escherichia coli and Sinorhizobium meliloti, induced by the addition of two different anionic polyelectrolytes, sodium polystyrene sulfonate or succinoglycan, the former being synthetic and the latter of natural origin. Comparison with the known behaviour of synthetic colloid-polymer mixtures and with simulations show that {"}depletion{"} (or, equivalently, {"}macromolecular crowding{"}) is the dominant mechanism: exclusion of the non-adsorbing polymer from the region between two neighbouring bacteria creates an unbalanced osmotic force pushing them together. The implications of our results for understanding phenomena such as biofilm formation are discussed. Copyright (c) EPLA, 2010",

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month = mar,

doi = "10.1209/0295-5075/89/68003",

language = "English",

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T1 - Polymer-induced phase separation in suspensions of bacteria

AU - Schwarz-Linek, J.

AU - Dorken, G.

AU - Winkler, A.

AU - Wilson, L. G.

AU - Pham, N. T.

AU - French, Chris

AU - Schilling, T.

AU - Poon, Wilson

PY - 2010/3

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N2 - We study phase separation in suspensions of two unrelated species of rod-like bacteria, Escherichia coli and Sinorhizobium meliloti, induced by the addition of two different anionic polyelectrolytes, sodium polystyrene sulfonate or succinoglycan, the former being synthetic and the latter of natural origin. Comparison with the known behaviour of synthetic colloid-polymer mixtures and with simulations show that "depletion" (or, equivalently, "macromolecular crowding") is the dominant mechanism: exclusion of the non-adsorbing polymer from the region between two neighbouring bacteria creates an unbalanced osmotic force pushing them together. The implications of our results for understanding phenomena such as biofilm formation are discussed. Copyright (c) EPLA, 2010

AB - We study phase separation in suspensions of two unrelated species of rod-like bacteria, Escherichia coli and Sinorhizobium meliloti, induced by the addition of two different anionic polyelectrolytes, sodium polystyrene sulfonate or succinoglycan, the former being synthetic and the latter of natural origin. Comparison with the known behaviour of synthetic colloid-polymer mixtures and with simulations show that "depletion" (or, equivalently, "macromolecular crowding") is the dominant mechanism: exclusion of the non-adsorbing polymer from the region between two neighbouring bacteria creates an unbalanced osmotic force pushing them together. The implications of our results for understanding phenomena such as biofilm formation are discussed. Copyright (c) EPLA, 2010

KW - ESCHERICHIA-COLI

KW - LIGHT-SCATTERING

KW - AGGREGATION

KW - SUCCINOGLYCAN

KW - ADSORPTION

KW - MIXTURES

KW - BEHAVIOR

U2 - 10.1209/0295-5075/89/68003

DO - 10.1209/0295-5075/89/68003

M3 - Article

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JO - European Physical Society Letters (EPL)

JF - European Physical Society Letters (EPL)

IS - 6

M1 - 68003

ER -

Polymer-induced phase separation in suspensions of bacteria

Abstract

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

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