Quantifying the fractal complexity of nutrient transport channels in <i>Escherichia coli</i> biofilms under varying cell shape and growth environment.

ABSTRACT: Recent mesoscopic characterization of nutrient-transporting channels in Escherichia coli has allowed the identification and measurement of individual channels in whole mature colony biofilms. However, their complexity under different physiological and environmental conditions remains unknown. Analysis of confocal micrographs of colony biofilms formed by cell shape mutants of E. coli shows that channels have high fractal complexity, regardless of cell phenotype or growth medium. In particular, colony biofilms formed by the mutant strain ΔompR, which has a wide-cell phenotype, have a higher fractal dimension when grown on rich medium than when grown on minimal medium, with channel complexity affected by glucose and agar concentrations in the medium. Osmotic stress leads

SUBMITTER: Bottura B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11649193 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature