Stress-hardening behaviour of biofilm streamers.

ABSTRACT: Bacteria's ability to withstand mechanical challenges is enhanced in their biofilm lifestyle, where they are encased in a viscoelastic polymer matrix. Under fluid flow, biofilms can form as streamers - slender filaments tethered to solid surfaces and suspended in the flowing fluid. Streamers thrive in environments subjected to intense hydrodynamic stresses, such as medical devices and water filters, often resulting in catastrophic clogging. Their colonisation success may depend on a highly adaptable mechanical response to varying stress conditions, though the evidence and underlying mechanisms of this adaptation remain elusive. Here, we demonstrate that biofilm streamers exhibit a stress-hardening behaviour, with both differential elastic modulus and effective viscosity increasing linearly

SUBMITTER: Savorana G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12569198 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature