Morphogenesis and cell ordering in confined bacterial biofilms
Abstract
Biofilms are microbial cities in which bacterial cells reside in a polymeric matrix. They are commonly found inside soft confining environments such as food matrices and host tissues, against which bacteria must push to proliferate. Here, by combining single-cell live imaging and mechanical characterization, we show that the confining environment determines the dynamics of biofilm shape and internal structure. The self-organization of biofilm architecture is caused by force transmission between the environment and the biofilm, mediated by the extracellular matrix secreted by the cells. Our findings lead to a better understanding of how bacterial communities develop under mechanical constraints, and potentially to strategies for preventing and controlling biofilm growth in three-dimensional environments.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Jul 30, 2021
- Source ID
- 10.1073/pnas.2107107118
Entities
People
- Haoran Lu
- Japinder Nijjer
- Jian Li
- Jing Yan
- Mrityunjay Kothari
- Qiuting Zhang
- Ricard Alert
- Tal Cohen
Organizations
- Burroughs Wellcome Fund
- Human Frontier Science Program
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- National Science Foundation
- Office of Naval Research
- Princeton University
- Yale University