Regulating Bacterial Behavior within Hydrogels of Tunable Viscoelasticity.

ABSTRACT: Engineered living materials (ELMs) are a new class of materials in which living organism incorporated into diffusive matrices uptake a fundamental role in material's composition and function. Understanding how the spatial confinement in 3D can regulate the behavior of the embedded cells is crucial to design and predict ELM's function, minimize their environmental impact and facilitate their translation into applied materials. This study investigates the growth and metabolic activity of bacteria within an associative hydrogel network (Pluronic-based) with mechanical properties that can be tuned by introducing a variable degree of acrylate crosslinks. Individual bacteria distributed in the hydrogel matrix at low density form functional colonies whose size is controlled by the extent of perma

SUBMITTER: Bhusari S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9189655 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature