Capillary aggregation and surface waves in bacterial colonies
Ricard Alert (ICREA Research Professor, University of Barcelona)
| Quand ? |
Le 19/01/2026, de 11:00 à 12:00 |
|---|---|
| Où ? | Salle Condorcet |
| S'adresser à | Alexis Poncet |
| Participants |
Ricard Alert |
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Many bacteria inhabit hydrated environments like soil, textiles and agar hydrogels in the lab. In these environments, cells are surrounded by a water meniscus. First, I will show that the resulting capillary forces organize bacterial colonies, enabling cells to aggregate into densely packed nematic layers while still allowing them to slide past one another. Second, I will show that, when these bacterial colonies form thick multilayered films, they exhibit active surface waves. These results suggest that capillary forces may be a ubiquitous physical ingredient in shaping microbial communities in partially hydrated environments.