近日，美国普林斯顿大学Joshua W. Shaevitz团队揭示了毛细管相互作用驱动细菌菌落的自组织。2025年7月28日出版的《自然—物理学》杂志发表了这项成果。

许多细菌栖息在固体表面的薄水层上。这些薄膜既存在于土壤、寄主和织物上，也存在于实验室中的琼脂水凝胶上。在这些环境中，细胞经历毛细力，但尚不清楚这些力如何塑造细菌的集体行为。

研究组展示了在细菌周围形成的水半月板导致细胞之间的毛细血管吸引，同时仍然允许它们彼此滑动。他们开发了一种实验装置，使其能够通过改变毛细管力的强度和范围来控制细菌的集体行为。将三维成像和细胞跟踪与基于代理的建模相结合，研究组证明了毛细管吸引力将杆状细菌组织成密集排列的向列群，并影响它们的集体动力学和形态。该结果表明，毛细管力可能是在部分水合环境中形成微生物群落的普遍物理成分。

附：英文原文

Title: Capillary interactions drive the self-organization of bacterial colonies

Author: Black, Matthew E., Fei, Chenyi, Alert, Ricard, Wingreen, Ned S., Shaevitz, Joshua W.

Issue&Volume: 2025-07-28

Abstract: Many bacteria inhabit thin water layers on solid surfaces. These thin films occur both naturally—in soils, on hosts and on textiles—and in the laboratory on agar hydrogels. In these environments, cells experience capillary forces, but it is unclear how these forces shape bacterial collective behaviour. Here we show that the water menisci formed around bacteria lead to capillary attraction between cells while still allowing them to slide past one another. We develop an experimental apparatus that allows us to control bacterial collective behaviour by varying the strength and range of capillary forces. Combining three-dimensional imaging and cell tracking with agent-based modelling, we demonstrate that capillary attraction organizes rod-shaped bacteria into densely packed nematic groups and influences their collective dynamics and morphologies. Our results suggest that capillary forces may be a ubiquitous physical ingredient in shaping microbial communities in partially hydrated environments.

DOI: 10.1038/s41567-025-02965-y

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-025-02965-y