Spatio-temporal dynamics of growth and death within spherical bacterial colonies

Abstract

Bacterial growth within colonies and biofilms is heterogeneous. Local reduction of growth rates has been associated with tolerance against various antibiotics. However, spatial gradients of growth rates are poorly characterized in three-dimensional bacterial colonies. Here, we report two spatially resolved methods for measuring growth rates in bacterial colonies. As bacteria grow and divide, they generate a velocity field that is directly related to the growth rates. We derive profiles of growth rates from the velocity field and show that they are consistent with the profiles obtained by single cell counting. Using these methods, we reveal that even small colonies comprising a few thousand cells of the human pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae develop a steep gradient of growth rates within two generations. Furthermore, we show that stringent response decelerates growth inhibition at the colony centre. Based on our results, we suggest that aggregation-related growth inhibition can protect gonococci from external stresses even at early biofilm stages.