Intra-colony channel morphology in Escherichia coli biofilms is governed by nutrient availability and substrate stiffness.

ABSTRACT: Nutrient-transporting channels have been recently discovered in mature Escherichia coli biofilms, however the relationship between intra-colony channel structure and the surrounding environmental conditions is poorly understood. Using a combination of fluorescence mesoscopy and a purpose-designed open-source quantitative image analysis pipeline, we show that growth substrate composition and nutrient availability have a profound effect on the morphology of intra-colony channels in mature E. coli biofilms. Under all nutrient conditions, intra-colony channel width was observed to increase non-linearly with radial distance from the centre of the biofilm. Notably, the channels were around 25% wider at the centre of carbon-limited biofilms compared to nitrogen-limited biofilms. Cha

SUBMITTER: Bottura B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9568850 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature