Cooperation and conflict in microbial biofilms.

ABSTRACT: Biofilms, in which cells attach to surfaces and secrete slime (polymeric substances), are central to microbial life. Biofilms are often thought to require high levels of cooperation because extracellular polymeric substances are a shared resource produced by one cell that can be used by others. Here we examine this hypothesis by using a detailed individual-based simulation of a biofilm to investigate the outcome of evolutionary competitions between strains that differ in their level of polymer production. Our model includes a biochemical description of the carbon fluxes for growth and polymer production, and it explicitly calculates diffusion-reaction effects and the resulting solute gradients in the biofilm. An emergent property of these simple but realistic mechanistic assumptions is a s

SUBMITTER: Xavier JB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1783407 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature