A defined medium to investigate sliding motility in a Bacillus subtilis flagella-less mutant

Abstract

These results suggest that B. subtilis can use sliding motility to colonize surfaces, using a tendril-like growth mode when various macronutrients or micronutrients are limiting. If nutrients are balanced and sufficient, the surfaces between tendrils can be colonized by robust surface films. Sliding motility may represent a strategy for nutrient-deprived cells to colonize surfaces in natural environments, such as plant roots, and the media described here may be useful in investigations of this growth phenotype.