Towards Controlling Bacterial Social Behaviours in Host-like Habitats (360G-Wellcome-204240_Z_16_Z)

The regulation of social behaviour in bacteria is key to several phenomena of medical relevance, including biofilm formation and the expression of virulence in pathogens. Specifically, quorum sensing is the chemical communication process bacteria use to coordinate changes in their collective behaviour in response to population density. A current challenge in the field is to understand how quorum-sensing works in scenarios that mimic real host environments, where spatial patchiness is omnipresent. In a recent Nature Communications article, I demonstrated that patchiness makes an active matter system – a system of self-propelled elements, such as motile bacteria – switch between gathering and dispersal of individuals. Using a novel combination of methods from microfabrication, advanced microscopy and molecular biology, the aim of this proof-of-principle project is to unambiguously demonstrate for the first time that bacterial quorum sensing can be triggered by similar dynamics of gathering and dispersal induced by spatial features in the environment. The validation of such a hypothesis will enable me to bridge my current expertise with a new long-term research programme on the effects of the environment on different, exciting quorum-sensing related phenomena. Examples include biofilm formation and development, antimicrobial resistance, host-pathogens interactions, and the expression of virulence.