Pressure-induced Shape-shifting of Helical Bacteria

Autor: Pastrana, Cesar L., Qiu, Luyi, Armon, Shahaf, Gerland, Ulrich, Amir, Ariel
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Soft Matter 19(12):2224-2230 (2023)
Druh dokumentu: Working Paper
DOI: 10.1039/D2SM01044E
Popis: Many bacterial species are helical in form, including the widespread pathogen H. pylori. Motivated by recent experiments on H. pylori showing that cell wall synthesis is not uniform, we investigate the possible formation of helical cell shape induced by elastic heterogeneity. We show, experimentally and theoretically, that helical morphogenesis can be produced by pressurizing an elastic cylindrical vessel with helical reinforced lines. The properties of the pressurized helix are highly dependent on the initial helical angle of the reinforced region. We find that steep angles result in crooked helices with, surprisingly, reduced end-to-end distance upon pressurization. This work helps to explain the possible mechanisms for the generation of helical cell morphologies and may inspire the design of novel pressure-controlled helical actuators.
Databáze: arXiv