Welcome to the Motility Database!


The Motility Database is an open archive of videos of microbial motility in three dimensions for scientists, educators, and the public.

Questions we intend to investigate are:

  • What role does microbial motility play in aquatic environments: oceans, lakes, and inside the pores of sea ice?
  • When microbes lose the ability to swim, what will make them swim again--temperature, amino acids, sugars? How long does it take to go from motile to non-motile?
  • Is microbial motility substantially different in extremely cold and nutrient poor environments (such as the Arctic) than in more temperate environments
  • How can motility be a biosignature that complements biochemical biosignatures of life on other planets?


  • Accessing the Motility Database

    To access to the motility database via anonymous ftp (read only), go to: Motility Database

    If you would like to contribute additional data or analysis, please send an email to nadeau@pdx.edu

    Most of the files in the database are in zipped collections - the unzipped collection provides an example of the file structure. Please contact us at the email address above for additional metadata details.



    Here's a Sample Video

    This video shows motile Salmonella bacteria labeled with gas vesicles. This video consists of a reconstructed phase sequence at a single z-plane.

    Gas vesicles confer positive phase contrast. Stay tuned for a publication!

    Contact Information

    Department of Physics          
    Portland State University        
    Portland, OR 97201          
    Telephone: (626) 395-2405
    Email: nadeau@pdx.edu

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