Statistics Seminar: Pascal Vallotton -- Size matters: Vortex formation and colony expansion in Paenibacillus vortex interstitial biofilms

Pascal Vallotton, Quantitative Imaging
CSIRO Mathematics, Informatics and Statistics

Title: Size matters: Vortex formation and colony expansion in 
Paenibacillus vortex interstitial biofilms

Bacterial motility plays an important role in infectious diseases 
by speeding up the spread of pathogens. We study motility in 
vitro, at the interface between a glass cover slip and an agar 
gel. In this so called interstitial biofilm system, bacteria evolve
 in two dimensions, enabling high resolution imaging studies. We 
will present new results pertaining to the species Paenibacillus 
vortex, famous for its ability to self-assemble on agar plates 
into macroscopic vortices comprising thousands of individuals. 
Using movies acquired under interstitial conditions and analysed 
by cell tracking, we present results that shed new light on the 
process of vortex formation and biofilm expansion.