Influence of Metal Cations on the Viscoelastic Properties of Escherichia coli Biofilms.

ABSTRACT: Biofilms frequently cause complications in various areas of human life, e.g., in medicine and in the food industry. More recently, biofilms are discussed as new types of living materials with tunable mechanical properties. In particular, Escherichia coli produces a matrix composed of amyloid-forming curli and phosphoethanolamine-modified cellulose fibers in response to suboptimal environmental conditions. It is currently unknown how the interaction between these fibers contributes to the overall mechanical properties of the formed biofilms and if extrinsic control parameters can be utilized to manipulate these properties. Using shear rheology, we show that biofilms formed by the E. coli K-12 strain AR3110 stiffen by a factor of 2 when exposed to the trivalent metal cations Al

SUBMITTER: Sarlet A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9910073 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature