Substrate-rigidity dependent migration of an idealized twitching bacterium

Simsek, Ahmet Nihat; Braeutigam, Andrea; Koch, Matthias D.; Shaevitz, Joshua W.; Huang, Yunfei; Gompper, Gerhard; Sabass, Benedikt

doi:10.1039/c9sm00541b

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 74 publications

(65 reference statements)

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“…T4Ps propel single cells forward by successively extending, attaching to the surface, and retracting ( 27 ). How substrate mechanical properties regulate twitching motility remains unclear, but theory predicts that cells move more efficiently on stiffer materials ( 28 ). Driven by our observations of early biofilm formation, we hypothesized that material properties regulate twitching motility, thereby leading to the different biofilm architectures.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Material Substrate Physical Properties Control Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilm Architecture

Cont

Vermeil

Persat

2023

mBio

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Theory predicts that twitching migration speed increases with the rigidity of continuous materials in regimes in which adhesion of the cell body is weak compared to T4Ps ( 28 , 35 ). On hydrogels, we observe that twitching speed depends on cross-linking density rather than on Young’s modulus.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Material Substrate Physical Properties Control Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilm Architecture

Cont

Vermeil

Persat

2023

mBio

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“…In contrast, we consider the pilus tip to be firmly attached to the substrate until detachment while the cell body can slide on the surface. Note that this asymmetry between bacterial body (macroscopic sliding over the substrate) and the supposedly small pilus/substrate contact (point-like force deforming the substrate) is the essential difference to the pulling process described in Simsek et al, 2019 , where the contact of the bacterial body and the pilus extremity are mechanically treated as equivalent.…”

Section: Modeling Twitching Velocity On Soft Substratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Substrate stiffness impacts early biofilm formation by modulating Pseudomonas aeruginosa twitching motility

Gomez,

Bureau,

John

et al. 2023

eLife

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Surface-associated lifestyles dominate in the bacterial world. Large multicellular assemblies, called biofilms, are essential to the survival of bacteria in harsh environments, and are closely linked to antibiotic resistance in pathogenic strains. Biofilms stem from the surface colonization of a wide variety of substrates encountered by bacteria, from living tissues to inert materials. Here, we demonstrate experimentally that the promiscuous opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa explores substrates differently based on their rigidity, leading to striking variations in biofilm structure, exopolysaccharides (EPS) distribution, strain mixing during co-colonization and phenotypic expression. Using simple kinetic models, we show that these phenotypes arise through a mechanical interaction between the elasticity of the substrate and the type IV pilus (T4P) machinery, that mediates the surface-based motility called twitching. Together, our findings reveal a new role for substrate softness in the spatial organization of bacteria in complex microenvironments, with far-reaching consequences on efficient biofilm formation.

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“…Bacteria move faster on a rigid surface if their rear adhesion bond is more force-sensitive. However, the deformation of the soft substrate surface may block the pull force produced during migration, which negatively affects migration speed ( Simsek et al, 2019 ).…”

Section: Controlling Biofilm Formation Using Materials Sciencementioning

confidence: 99%

Manipulating Bacterial Biofilms Using Materiobiology and Synthetic Biology Approaches

et al. 2022

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Bacteria form biofilms on material surfaces within hours. Biofilms are often considered problematic substances in the fields such as biomedical devices and the food industry; however, they are beneficial in other fields such as fermentation, water remediation, and civil engineering. Biofilm properties depend on their genome and the extracellular environment, including pH, shear stress, and matrices topography, stiffness, wettability, and charges during biofilm formation. These surface properties have feedback effects on biofilm formation at different stages. Due to emerging technology such as synthetic biology and genome editing, many studies have focused on functionalizing biofilm for specific applications. Nevertheless, few studies combine these two approaches to produce or modify biofilms. This review summarizes up-to-date materials science and synthetic biology approaches to controlling biofilms. The review proposed a potential research direction in the future that can gain better control of bacteria and biofilms.

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Substrate-rigidity dependent migration of an idealized twitching bacterium

Abstract: An analytical model reveals generic physical mechanisms for substrate-rigidity dependence of cellular motion. Key ingredients are a tight surface adhesion and forced adhesion rupture.

Cited by 10 publications

References 74 publications

Material Substrate Physical Properties Control Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilm Architecture

Material Substrate Physical Properties Control Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilm Architecture

Substrate stiffness impacts early biofilm formation by modulating Pseudomonas aeruginosa twitching motility

Manipulating Bacterial Biofilms Using Materiobiology and Synthetic Biology Approaches

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