Swimming motility in the gut microbiota is diverse and increased in inflammation.
- 1Biophysics of Host-Microbe Interactions Research Group, Institute of Medical Microbiology, RWTH Aachen University Hospital, Aachen, Germany
Abstract
Swimming motility has long been studied as a virulence mechanism of enteric pathogens, while the resident microbiota's motility has only been inferred from proxies or explored through a few model species. This study presents a direct, functional analysis of gut bacterial motility in health and inflammation. Using phase-contrast microscopy and high-throughput 3D tracking, we quantified motile bacteria and characterized their swimming behaviours directly in diluted fresh gut content. In healthy mice, fewer than 3% of bacteria were motile along the digestive tract, and their swimming patterns were dominated not by the run-tumble behavior of model gut species but by diverse behaviours rich in reverses. In five mouse models with intestinal inflammation (spanning chemical, genetic, dietary and infectious etiologies) the motile fraction rose by at least 4-fold, correlating with elevated Lipocalin-2 where measured. Reverse-rich patterns remained prevalent in these inflamed conditions, with the notable exception of Salmonella infection. Paired metagenomics and metatranscriptomics showed enrichment of flagellar genes, while communities transferred into cecal water from inflamed mice raised their motile fraction within an hour, indicating that the rise reflects both enrichment of motile taxa and rapid modulation within existing populations. In vitro assays with human-derived isolates confirmed motility across several phyla, with variability down to strain level, and identified oxygen and viscosity as key modulators. These findings support increased motility as a hallmark of the inflamed gut and challenge established assumptions about gut bacterial motility.
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BibTeX
@misc{chiotelli2026swimming,
title = {{Swimming motility in the gut microbiota is diverse and increased in inflammation.}},
author = {M. D. Chiotelli and C. Pauvert and N. S. Treichel and E.-L. Stange and K. Zhang and A. Dupont and A. Seeger and N. K. Kanagaraj and A. Lobo Gomes and J. Reissing and J. Pes and N. Torow and T. Bruns and N. Guldiken and A. Schippers and A. Izcue and T. Clavel and M. Grognot},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.64898/2026.08.18.744924},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.18.744924v2},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Swimming motility in the gut microbiota is diverse and increased in inflammation.
AU - M. D. Chiotelli
AU - C. Pauvert
AU - N. S. Treichel
AU - E.-L. Stange
AU - K. Zhang
AU - A. Dupont
AU - A. Seeger
AU - N. K. Kanagaraj
AU - A. Lobo Gomes
AU - J. Reissing
AU - J. Pes
AU - N. Torow
AU - T. Bruns
AU - N. Guldiken
AU - A. Schippers
AU - A. Izcue
AU - T. Clavel
AU - M. Grognot
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/18
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.08.18.744924
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.18.744924v2
AB - Swimming motility has long been studied as a virulence mechanism of enteric pathogens, while the resident microbiota's motility has only been inferred from proxies or explored through a few model species. This study presents a direct, functional analysis of gut bacterial motility in health and inflammation. Using phase-contrast microscopy and high-throughput 3D tracking, we quantified motile bacteria and characterized their swimming behaviours directly in diluted fresh gut content. In healthy mice, fewer than 3% of bacteria were motile along the digestive tract, and their swimming patterns were dominated not by the run-tumble behavior of model gut species but by diverse behaviours rich in reverses. In five mouse models with intestinal inflammation (spanning chemical, genetic, dietary and infectious etiologies) the motile fraction rose by at least 4-fold, correlating with elevated Lipocalin-2 where measured. Reverse-rich patterns remained prevalent in these inflamed conditions, with the notable exception of Salmonella infection. Paired metagenomics and metatranscriptomics showed enrichment of flagellar genes, while communities transferred into cecal water from inflamed mice raised their motile fraction within an hour, indicating that the rise reflects both enrichment of motile taxa and rapid modulation within existing populations. In vitro assays with human-derived isolates confirmed motility across several phyla, with variability down to strain level, and identified oxygen and viscosity as key modulators. These findings support increased motility as a hallmark of the inflamed gut and challenge established assumptions about gut bacterial motility.
ER -