Abstract
Microbial colonies are fascinating structures in which growth and internal organization reflect the morphogenesis of complex spatiotemporal processes. However, there is no global understanding of how metabolic interactions between cells affect the internal structure of microbial colonies. Here, we generated long arrays of monolayer yeast colonies within a multi-layered microfluidic device perfused from only one side to study gradient formation and microbial colony dynamics within defined boundary conditions. We observed the emergence of stable glucose gradients using fluorescently labelled hexose transporters and quantified the spatial correlations with intra-colony growth rates and expression of other genes regulated by glucose availability. These landscapes depended on the external glucose concentration as well as secondary gradients, e.g., amino acid availability. This work demonstrates the regulatory genetic networks governing cellular physiological adaptation are the key to internal structuration of cellular assemblies. This approach could be used in the future to decipher the interplay between long-range metabolic interactions, cellular development and morphogenesis in more complex systems.