@article{a9b38646291e4703a1be304c273b9a92,
title = "Chemotactic smoothing of collective migration",
abstract = "Collective migration—the directed, coordinated motion of many self-propelled agents—is a fascinating emergent behavior exhibited by active matter with functional implications for biological systems. However, how migration can persist when a population is confronted with perturbations is poorly understood. Here, we address this gap in knowledge through studies of bacteria that migrate via directed motion, or chemotaxis, in response to a self-generated nutrient gradient. We find that bacterial populations autonomously smooth out large-scale perturbations in their overall morphology, enabling the cells to continue to migrate together. This smoothing process arises from spatial variations in the ability of cells to sense and respond to the local nutrient gradient—revealing a population-scale consequence of the manner in which individual cells transduce external signals. Altogether, our work provides insights to predict, and potentially control, the collective migration and morphology of cellular populations and diverse other forms of active matter.",
author = "Tapomoy Bhattacharjee and Amchin, {Daniel B.} and Ricard Alert and Ott, {Jenna Anne} and Datta, {Sujit Sankar}",
note = "Funding Information: It is a pleasure to acknowledge Tommy Angelini for providing microgel polymers; Bob Austin for providing fluorescent E. coli; and Stas Shvartsman, Howard Stone, Sankaran Sundaresan, and Ned Wingreen for stimulating discussions. This work was supported by NSF grant CBET-1941716, the Project X Innovation fund, a distinguished postdoctoral fellowship from the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University to TB, the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Transformative Technology Fund at Princeton, the Princeton Catalysis Initiative, the Pew Charitable Trusts through the Pew Biomedical Scholars Program, and in part by funding from the Princeton Center for Complex Materials, a Materials Research Science and Engineering Center supported by NSF grant DMR-2011750. This material is also based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (to J.A.O.) under Grant No. DGE-1656466. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. RA acknowledges support from the Human Frontier Science Program (LT000475/2018C). National Science Foundation National Science Foundation National Science Foundation Project X Innovation fund Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment Eric and Wendy Schmidt Transformative Technology Fund Human Frontier Science Program Princeton Catalysis Initiative Pew Charitable Trusts CBET-1941716 DMR-2011750 DGE-1656466 Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowship LT000475/2018-C Pew Biomedical Scholars Program Sujit Sankar Datta Sujit Sankar Datta Jenna Anne Ott Sujit Sankar Datta Tapomoy Bhattacharjee Sujit Sankar Datta Ricard Alert Sujit Sankar Datta Sujit Sankar Datta The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication. Funding Information: It is a pleasure to acknowledge Tommy Angelini for providing microgel polymers; Bob Austin for providing fluorescent E. coli; and Stas Shvartsman, Howard Stone, Sankaran Sundaresan, and Ned Wingreen for stimulating discussions. This work was supported by NSF grant CBET-1941716, the Project X Innovation fund, a distinguished postdoctoral fellowship from the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University to TB, the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Transformative Technology Fund at Princeton, the Princeton Catalysis Initiative, the Pew Charitable Trusts through the Pew Biomedical Scholars Program, and in part by funding from the Princeton Center for Complex Materials, a Materials Research Science and Engineering Center supported by NSF grant DMR-2011750. This material is also based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (to J.A.O.) under Grant No. DGE-1656466. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. RA acknowledges support from the Human Frontier Science Program (LT000475/2018C). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} Bhattacharjee et al.",
year = "2022",
month = mar,
doi = "10.7554/eLife.71226",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "11",
journal = "eLife",
issn = "2050-084X",
publisher = "eLife Sciences Publications",
}