Development and functionality control of liquid canals in a bacterial community

Long-range material transport is essential to supply water, nutrients, and oxygen in animals and plants. By contrast, material transport in bacterial community is often carried out by molecular diffusion, and is often short-range, with low efficiency over longer ranges. In the previous study, we reported a unique form of rhamnolipids-driven long-range directed canals for material transport in Pseudomonas aeruginosa communities. Here we use genetic manipulation to further understand and control the development and functionality of liquid canals spatially and temporally. The study may provide insight to engineering living materials and synthetic microbiota.