biostudies-literatureUnknown20(12)Winans JBNumerous ecological interactions among microbes-for example, competition for space and resources, or interaction among phages and their bacterial hosts-are likely to occur simultaneously in multispecies biofilm communities. While biofilms formed by just a single species occur, multispecies biofilms are thought to be more typical of microbial communities in the natural environment. Previous work has shown that multispecies biofilms can increase, decrease, or have no measurable impact on phage exposure of a host bacterium living alongside another species that the phages cannot target. The reasons underlying this variability are not well understood, and how phage-host encounters change within multispecies biofilms remains mostly unexplored at the cellular spatial scale. Here, we study how thePLoS biologye3001913https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC9778933biostudies-literatureMultispecies biofilm architecture determines bacterial exposure to phages.PMC9778933Nadell CDWinans JBWucher BRfalseMultispecies biofilm architecture determines bacterial exposure to phages.Numerous ecological interactions among microbes-for example, competition for space and resources, or interaction among phages and their bacterial hosts-are likely to occur simultaneously in multispecies biofilm communities. While biofilms formed by just a single species occur, multispecies biofilms are thought to be more typical of microbial communities in the natural environment. Previous work has shown that multispecies biofilms can increase, decrease, or have no measurable impact on phage exposure of a host bacterium living alongside another species that the phages cannot target. The reasons underlying this variability are not well understood, and how phage-host encounters change within multispecies biofilms remains mostly unexplored at the cellular spatial scale. Here, we study how the2022-01-01T00:00:00Z2022 Dec2025-04-04T13:48:50.703Z2025-04-04T13:48:50.703ZS-EPMC97789333654822710.1371/journal.pbio.3001913