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<p>Confined flow is a major physical constraint, from the soil to the gut, for bacteria whose complex spatial organization within heterogeneous multispecies communities can be determinant for their environmental success. In particular, non-equilibrium spatial patterns emerge at rest in mixed motile - non-motile populations, but how flow affects these structures is unknown. Using a model community of mixed motile and non-motile <i>Escherichia coli</i> in channels under Poiseuille flow, we discovered a mode of active self-organization where the motile bacteria induce the rapid segregation of the non-motile ones to one channel side, which eventually cements in asymmetric biofilm formation. Our experiments and modeling identified the purely physical mechanism driving segregation: the rheotactic drift of the motile cells, resulting from shear on their chiral flagella, induces a conveyor-belt-like backflow advecting the non-motile cells. The latter then accumulate due to sedimentation countering flow incompressibility. This unexpected long-lasting structural consequence of motility may influence many bacterial communities colonizing confined-flow environments.</p><p></p>

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Active segregation in bacterial binary mixtures under flow

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2025年11月7日

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  • Giacomo Di Dio,
  • Remy Colin

摘要

Confined flow is a major physical constraint, from the soil to the gut, for bacteria whose complex spatial organization within heterogeneous multispecies communities can be determinant for their environmental success. In particular, non-equilibrium spatial patterns emerge at rest in mixed motile - non-motile populations, but how flow affects these structures is unknown. Using a model community of mixed motile and non-motile Escherichia coli in channels under Poiseuille flow, we discovered a mode of active self-organization where the motile bacteria induce the rapid segregation of the non-motile ones to one channel side, which eventually cements in asymmetric biofilm formation. Our experiments and modeling identified the purely physical mechanism driving segregation: the rheotactic drift of the motile cells, resulting from shear on their chiral flagella, induces a conveyor-belt-like backflow advecting the non-motile cells. The latter then accumulate due to sedimentation countering flow incompressibility. This unexpected long-lasting structural consequence of motility may influence many bacterial communities colonizing confined-flow environments.