Swarming ring patterns in bacterial colonies exposed to ultraviolet radiation

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  • 2 January 2001
Abstract
We report a novel morphological instability in a Bacillus subtilis colony initially growing under ambient conditions to ultraviolet radiation exposure. The bacteria in the central regions of the colonies are observed to migrate towards the colony edge forming a ring during uniform spatial exposure. When the radiation is switched off, the colonies were observed to grow both inward into the evacuated regions as well as outward indicating that the pattern is not formed due to depletion of nutrients at the center of the colony. We also discuss the results of random walk simulations that show that patterns are not formed due to linear attraction or repulsion between the individuals.

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