Collective stress tolerance during bacterial swarming

Bacterial populations such as biofilms and swarming colonies often survive under antibiotic treatment at concentrations lethal to individual cells. Here we used the model bacterium E. coli to investigate how motility affects the collective tolerance. We quantified the single cell motion pattern in swarms under stress and studied the relation between single cell motility and colony expansion. Our results suggest a general means of stress-response for bacterial swarms.