The motilities of Proteus long forms during swarming on agar were measured on cells transferred to liquid suspension. During concentric-ring formation on solid medium, when the edge of the swarm was advancing slowly or had stopped, the velocity of long-form motility was low. When the colony was spreading rapidly, long-form velocitywas relatively high. This periodic variation in cell velocity, w...

Behavioral plasticity is widespread in swarming animals, but little is known about its underlying neural and molecular mechanisms. Here, we report that a neuropeptide F (NPF)/nitric oxide (NO) pathway plays a critical role in the locomotor plasticity of swarming migratory locusts. The transcripts encoding two related neuropeptides, NPF1a and NPF2, show reduced levels during crowding, and the tr...

To gain a more thorough understanding of the dynamics of swarming bacteria, a nonlabeled cell tracking algorithm was used to study the velocity field of flagellated bacteria, Serratia marcescens, swarming on a soft agar plate. The average velocities for local regions regularly arranged over the entire flow field were investigated. The velocity field of the bacteria typically featured the combin...

Many bacteria simultaneously grow and spread rapidly over a surface that supplies them with nutrient. Called 'swarming', this pattern of movement directs new cells to the edge of the colony. Swarming reduces competition between cells for nutrients, speeding growth. Behind the swarm edge, where the cell density is higher, growth is limited by transport of nutrient from the subsurface to the over...