Founder cell configuration drives competitive outcome within colony biofilms.

ABSTRACT: Bacteria can form dense communities called biofilms, where cells are embedded in a self-produced extracellular matrix. Exploiting competitive interactions between strains within the biofilm context can have potential applications in biological, medical, and industrial systems. By combining mathematical modelling with experimental assays, we reveal that spatial structure and competitive dynamics within biofilms are significantly affected by the location and density of the founder cells used to inoculate the biofilm. Using a species-independent theoretical framework describing colony biofilm formation, we show that the observed spatial structure and relative strain biomass in a mature biofilm comprising two isogenic strains can be mapped directly to the geographical distributions of founder

SUBMITTER: Eigentler L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9122948 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature