Self-organization in bacterial swarming: lessons from myxobacteria

When colonizing surfaces, many bacteria are able to self-organize into an actively expanding biofilm, in which millions of cells move smoothly and orderly at high densities. This phenomenon is known as bacterial swarming. Despite the apparent resemblance to patterns seen in liquid crystals, the dynamics of bacterial swarming cannot be explained by theories derived from equilibrium statistical mechanics. To understand how bacteria swarm, a central question is how order emerges in dense and initially disorganized populations of bacterial cells. Here we briefly review recent efforts, with integrated computational and experimental approaches, in addressing this question.