Under the microscope, strong-swimming swamp bacteria spontaneously organize into crystals
Monday, April 6, 2015 - 16:00
in Biology & Nature
Insects form swarms, fish school, birds flock together. Likewise, one species of bacteria forms dynamic, living crystals, says new research from Rockefeller University. Biophysicists have revealed that fast-swimming, sulfur-eating microbes known as Thiovulum majus can organize themselves into a two-dimensional lattice composed of rotating cells, the first known example of bacteria spontaneously forming such a pattern.