Correlation between the spatial distribution and colony size was common for monogenetic bacteria in laboratory conditions
Abstract Background Geographically separated population growth of microbes is a common phenomenon in microbial ecology. Colonies are representative of the morphological characteristics of this structured population growth. Pattern formation by single colonies has been intensively studied, whereas th...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2021-04-01
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| Series: | BMC Microbiology |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12866-021-02180-8 |
| _version_ | 1819199973785337856 |
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| author | Heng Xue Masaomi Kurokawa Bei-Wen Ying |
| author_facet | Heng Xue Masaomi Kurokawa Bei-Wen Ying |
| author_sort | Heng Xue |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Geographically separated population growth of microbes is a common phenomenon in microbial ecology. Colonies are representative of the morphological characteristics of this structured population growth. Pattern formation by single colonies has been intensively studied, whereas the spatial distribution of colonies is poorly investigated. Results The present study describes a first trial to address the questions of whether and how the spatial distribution of colonies determines the final colony size using the model microorganism Escherichia coli, colonies of which can be grown under well-controlled laboratory conditions. A computational tool for image processing was developed to evaluate colony density, colony size and size variation, and the Voronoi diagram was applied for spatial analysis of colonies with identical space resources. A positive correlation between the final colony size and the Voronoi area was commonly identified, independent of genomic and nutritional differences, which disturbed the colony size and size variation. Conclusions This novel finding of a universal correlation between the spatial distribution and colony size not only indicated the fair distribution of spatial resources for monogenetic colonies growing with identical space resources but also indicated that the initial localization of the microbial colonies decided by chance determined the fate of the subsequent population growth. This study provides a valuable example for quantitative analysis of the complex microbial ecosystems by means of experimental ecology. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-23T03:24:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d2ca54975c3a42bcbead9a3891307f48 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-2180 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-23T03:24:51Z |
| publishDate | 2021-04-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Microbiology |
| spelling | doaj.art-d2ca54975c3a42bcbead9a3891307f482022-12-21T18:01:53ZengBMCBMC Microbiology1471-21802021-04-012111910.1186/s12866-021-02180-8Correlation between the spatial distribution and colony size was common for monogenetic bacteria in laboratory conditionsHeng Xue0Masaomi Kurokawa1Bei-Wen Ying2School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of TsukubaSchool of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of TsukubaSchool of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of TsukubaAbstract Background Geographically separated population growth of microbes is a common phenomenon in microbial ecology. Colonies are representative of the morphological characteristics of this structured population growth. Pattern formation by single colonies has been intensively studied, whereas the spatial distribution of colonies is poorly investigated. Results The present study describes a first trial to address the questions of whether and how the spatial distribution of colonies determines the final colony size using the model microorganism Escherichia coli, colonies of which can be grown under well-controlled laboratory conditions. A computational tool for image processing was developed to evaluate colony density, colony size and size variation, and the Voronoi diagram was applied for spatial analysis of colonies with identical space resources. A positive correlation between the final colony size and the Voronoi area was commonly identified, independent of genomic and nutritional differences, which disturbed the colony size and size variation. Conclusions This novel finding of a universal correlation between the spatial distribution and colony size not only indicated the fair distribution of spatial resources for monogenetic colonies growing with identical space resources but also indicated that the initial localization of the microbial colonies decided by chance determined the fate of the subsequent population growth. This study provides a valuable example for quantitative analysis of the complex microbial ecosystems by means of experimental ecology.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12866-021-02180-8Spatial distributionColony sizeVoronoi diagramPopulation growthExperimental ecology |
| spellingShingle | Heng Xue Masaomi Kurokawa Bei-Wen Ying Correlation between the spatial distribution and colony size was common for monogenetic bacteria in laboratory conditions BMC Microbiology Spatial distribution Colony size Voronoi diagram Population growth Experimental ecology |
| title | Correlation between the spatial distribution and colony size was common for monogenetic bacteria in laboratory conditions |
| title_full | Correlation between the spatial distribution and colony size was common for monogenetic bacteria in laboratory conditions |
| title_fullStr | Correlation between the spatial distribution and colony size was common for monogenetic bacteria in laboratory conditions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Correlation between the spatial distribution and colony size was common for monogenetic bacteria in laboratory conditions |
| title_short | Correlation between the spatial distribution and colony size was common for monogenetic bacteria in laboratory conditions |
| title_sort | correlation between the spatial distribution and colony size was common for monogenetic bacteria in laboratory conditions |
| topic | Spatial distribution Colony size Voronoi diagram Population growth Experimental ecology |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12866-021-02180-8 |
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