1. Department of Bioengineering, California Nano Systems Institute,University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA.
2. Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, USA.
3. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL 61801, USA.
4. Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA.Bacterial biofilms are structured multicellular communities involved in a broad range of infections. Knowing how free-swimming bacteria adapt their motility mechanisms near surfaces is crucial for understanding the transition between planktonic and biofilm phenotypes. By translating microscopy movies into searchable databases of bacterial behavior, we identified fundamental type IV pili–driven mechanisms for Pseudomonas aeruginosa surface motility involved in distinct foraging strategies. Bacteria stood upright and “walked” with trajectories optimized for two-dimensional surface exploration. Vertical orientation facilitated surface
detachment and could influence biofilm morphology.Center for Nonlinear Dynamic
