Document Type
Article
Date
Spring 4-15-2022
Keywords
bacterial colonies, biofilms, hydrogels, mechanobiology, traction force microscopy
Language
English
Funder(s)
NSF DEB, NSF MCB, and NSF MCB
Funding ID
2033942, 206747, and 2026782
Official Citation
Merrill E Asp and others, Spreading rates of bacterial colonies depend on substrate stiffness and permeability, PNAS Nexus, Volume 1, Issue 1, March 2022, pgac025, https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac025
Disciplines
Physics
Description/Abstract
The ability of bacteria to colonize and grow on different surfaces is an essential process for biofilm development. Here, we report the use of synthetic hydrogels with tunable stiffness and porosity to assess physical effects of the substrate on biofilm development. Using time-lapse microscopy to track the growth of expanding Serratia marcescens colonies, we find that biofilm colony growth can increase with increasing substrate stiffness, unlike what is found on traditional agar substrates. Using traction force microscopy-based techniques, we find that biofilms exert transient stresses correlated over length scales much larger than a single bacterium, and that the magnitude of these forces also increases with increasing substrate stiffness. Our results are consistent with a model of biofilm development in which the interplay between osmotic pressure arising from the biofilm and the poroelastic response of the underlying substrate controls biofilm growth and morphology.
Recommended Citation
Merrill E Asp and others, Spreading rates of bacterial colonies depend on substrate stiffness and permeability, PNAS Nexus, Volume 1, Issue 1, March 2022, pgac025, https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac025
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
