Morphogenesis of bacterial colonies in liquid crystalline environments

Natural bacterial habitats are often complex fluids with viscoelastic and anisotropic responses to stress; for example, they can take the form of liquid crystals (LCs), with elongated microscopic constituents that collectively align while still retaining the ability to flow. However, laboratory studies typically focus on cells in simple liquids or complex fluids with randomly oriented constituents. Here, we show how interactions with LCs shape bacterial proliferation in multicellular colonies. Using experiments, we find that in a nematic LC, cells of the multiple species we tested all form aligned single-cell-wide “chains” as they reproduce. As these chains lengthen, they eventually buckle in a highly localized manner. By combining our measurements with a continuum mechanical theory, we demonstrate that this distinctive morphogenetic program emerges because cells are kept in alignment due to the LC’s elasticity; as each chain lengthens, growth-induced viscous stresses along its contour eventually overcome the elasticity of the surrounding nematic, leading to buckling. Our work thus reveals and provides mechanistic insight into the previously overlooked role of LCs in sculpting bacterial life in complex environments.