Differential Dynamic Microscopy of Bacterial Motility

L. G. Wilson, V. A. Martinez, J. Schwarz-Linek, J. Tailleur, G. Bryant, P. N. Pusey, and W. C. K. Poon

Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 018101 – Published 5 January 2011

Abstract

We demonstrate a method for the fast, high-throughput characterization of the dynamics of active particles. Specifically, we measure the swimming speed distribution and motile cell fraction in Escherichia coli suspensions. By averaging over $\sim 10^{4}$ cells, our method is highly accurate compared to conventional tracking, yielding a routine tool for motility characterization. We find that the diffusivity of nonmotile cells is enhanced in proportion to the concentration of motile cells.

Received 26 April 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.018101

Authors & Affiliations

L. G. Wilson¹, V. A. Martinez¹, J. Schwarz-Linek¹, J. Tailleur¹, G. Bryant², P. N. Pusey¹, and W. C. K. Poon¹

¹SUPA and COSMIC, School of Physics & Astronomy, The University of Edinburgh, Mayfield Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JZ, United Kingdom
²Applied Physics, School of Applied Sciences, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia

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Vol. 106, Iss. 1 — 7 January 2011

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