A unique self-organization of bacterial sub-communities creates iridescence in Cellulophaga lytica colony biofilms

作者：Kientz Betty; Luke Stephen; Vukusic Peter; Peteri Renaud; Beaudry Cyrille; Renault Tristan; Simon David; Mignot Tam; Rosenfeld Eric

来源：Scientific Reports, 2016, 6(1): 19906.

DOI：10.1038/srep19906

Iridescent color appearances are widespread in nature. They arise from the interaction of light with micron- and submicron-sized physical structures spatially arranged with periodic geometry and are usually associated with bright angle-dependent hues. Iridescence has been reported for many animals and marine organisms. However, iridescence has not been well studied in bacteria. Recently, we reported a brilliant "pointillistic" iridescence in colony biofilms of marine Flavobacteria that exhibit gliding motility. The mechanism of their iridescence is unknown. Here, using a multi-disciplinary approach, we show that the cause of iridescence is a unique periodicity of the cell population in the colony biofilm. Cells are arranged together to form hexagonal photonic crystals. Our model highlights a novel pattern of self-organization in a bacterial biofilm. "Pointillistic" bacterial iridescence can be considered a new light-dependent phenomenon for the field of microbiology.

• 出版日期2016-1-28