Intrinsically robust and scalable biofilm segmentation under diverse physical growth conditions.

ABSTRACT: Developmental patterning is a shared feature across biological systems ranging from vertebrates to bacterial biofilms. While vertebrate patterning benefits from well-controlled homeostatic environments, bacterial biofilms can grow in diverse physical contexts. What mechanisms provide developmental robustness under diverse environments remains an open question. We show that a native clock-and-wavefront mechanism robustly segments biofilms in both solid-air and solid-liquid interfaces. Biofilms grown under these distinct physical conditions differ 4-fold in size yet exhibit robust segmentation. The segmentation pattern scaled with biofilm growth rate in a mathematically predictable manner independent of habitat conditions. We show that scaling arises from the coupling between wavefront speed

SUBMITTER: Chiou JG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11635021 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature