article · 02/01/2020
Spatiotemporal pattern formation in E. coli biofilms explained by a simple physical energy balance
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Résumé
While the biofilm growth mode conveys notable thriving advantages to bacterial populations, the mechanisms of biofilm formation are still strongly debated. Here, we investigate the remarkable spontaneous formation of regular spatial patterns during the growth of an Escherichia coli biofilm. These patterns reported here appear with non-motile bacteria, which excludes both chemotactic origins and other motility-based ones. We demonstrate that a minimal physical model based on phase separation describes them well. To confirm the predictive capacity of our model, we tune the cell–cell and cell–surface interactions using cells expressing different surface appendages. We further explain how F pilus-bearing cells enroll their wild type kindred, poorly piliated, into their typical pattern when mixed together. This work supports the hypothesis that purely physicochemical processes, such as the interplay of cell–cell and cell–surface interactions, can drive the emergence of a highly organized spatial structure that is potentially decisive for community fate and for biological functions.
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Thomen, P., Valentin, J., Bitbol, A.-F., & Henry, N. (2020). Spatiotemporal pattern formation in E. coli biofilms explained by a simple physical energy balance. Soft Matter, 16(2), 494-504. https://doi.org/10.1039/c9sm01375j@article{Thomen2020_325,
author = {Thomen, Philippe and Valentin, Jules and Bitbol, Anne-Florence and Henry, Nelly},
year = {2020},
month = {1},
title = {Spatiotemporal pattern formation in E. coli biofilms explained by a simple physical energy balance},
journal = {Soft Matter},
volume = {16},
number = {2},
pages = {494-504},
abstract = {While the biofilm growth mode conveys notable thriving advantages to bacterial populations, the mechanisms of biofilm formation are still strongly debated. Here, we investigate the remarkable spontaneous formation of regular spatial patterns during the growth of an Escherichia coli biofilm. These patterns reported here appear with non-motile bacteria, which excludes both chemotactic origins and other motility-based ones. We demonstrate that a minimal physical model based on phase separation describes them well. To confirm the predictive capacity of our model, we tune the cell–cell and cell–surface interactions using cells expressing different surface appendages. We further explain how F pilus-bearing cells enroll their wild type kindred, poorly piliated, into their typical pattern when mixed together. This work supports the hypothesis that purely physicochemical processes, such as the interplay of cell–cell and cell–surface interactions, can drive the emergence of a highly organized spatial structure that is potentially decisive for community fate and for biological functions.},
url = {https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2020/SM/C9SM01375J\#!divAbstract},
doi = {10.1039/c9sm01375j},
}TY - JOUR
AU - Thomen, Philippe
AU - Valentin, Jules
AU - Bitbol, Anne-Florence
AU - Henry, Nelly
PY - 2020
DA - 2020/01/02
TI - Spatiotemporal pattern formation in E. coli biofilms explained by a simple physical energy balance
JO - Soft Matter
VL - 16
IS - 2
AB - While the biofilm growth mode conveys notable thriving advantages to bacterial populations, the mechanisms of biofilm formation are still strongly debated. Here, we investigate the remarkable spontaneous formation of regular spatial patterns during the growth of an Escherichia coli biofilm. These patterns reported here appear with non-motile bacteria, which excludes both chemotactic origins and other motility-based ones. We demonstrate that a minimal physical model based on phase separation describes them well. To confirm the predictive capacity of our model, we tune the cell–cell and cell–surface interactions using cells expressing different surface appendages. We further explain how F pilus-bearing cells enroll their wild type kindred, poorly piliated, into their typical pattern when mixed together. This work supports the hypothesis that purely physicochemical processes, such as the interplay of cell–cell and cell–surface interactions, can drive the emergence of a highly organized spatial structure that is potentially decisive for community fate and for biological functions.
SP - 494
EP - 504
DO - 10.1039/c9sm01375j
UR - https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2020/SM/C9SM01375J#!divAbstract
ER -