Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Mechanical stress determines morphogenesis and cell ordering in confined bacterial biofilms

Qiuting Zhang, Jian Li, Japinder Nijjer, Haoran Lu, Mrityunjay Kothari, Ricard Alert, View ORCID ProfileTal Cohen, View ORCID ProfileJing Yan
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.02.17.431682
Qiuting Zhang
1Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Jian Li
3Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Japinder Nijjer
1Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Haoran Lu
1Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Mrityunjay Kothari
3Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Ricard Alert
4Princeton Center for Theoretical Science, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
5Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Tal Cohen
2Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
3Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Tal Cohen
  • For correspondence: talco@mit.edu jing.yan@yale.edu
Jing Yan
1Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
6Quantitative Biology Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Jing Yan
  • For correspondence: talco@mit.edu jing.yan@yale.edu
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Supplementary material
  • Preview PDF
Loading

Abstract

Biofilms are aggregates of bacterial cells surrounded by an extracellular matrix. Much progress has been made in studying biofilm growth on solid substrates; however, little is known about how biofilms develop in three-dimensional confined environments. Here, combining single-cell imaging, continuum mechanical modeling, and mutagenesis, we reveal the key morphogenesis steps of Vibrio cholerae biofilms embedded in hydrogels. We demonstrate how mechanical stress determines the global morphology and gives rise to bipolar cell ordering in confined biofilms. Our analysis shows that cell ordering arises from stress transmission across the biofilm-environment interface, mediated by specific matrix components. Our results open an avenue to understand how organisms grow within complex environments by means of a compromise between their inherent developmental program and the constraints imposed by the environment.

One sentence summary Embedded biofilms mechanically interact with the confining environment, leading to the emergence of an anisotropic architecture and a precise cell organization.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted February 17, 2021.
Download PDF

Supplementary Material

Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Mechanical stress determines morphogenesis and cell ordering in confined bacterial biofilms
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Mechanical stress determines morphogenesis and cell ordering in confined bacterial biofilms
Qiuting Zhang, Jian Li, Japinder Nijjer, Haoran Lu, Mrityunjay Kothari, Ricard Alert, Tal Cohen, Jing Yan
bioRxiv 2021.02.17.431682; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.02.17.431682
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Mechanical stress determines morphogenesis and cell ordering in confined bacterial biofilms
Qiuting Zhang, Jian Li, Japinder Nijjer, Haoran Lu, Mrityunjay Kothari, Ricard Alert, Tal Cohen, Jing Yan
bioRxiv 2021.02.17.431682; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.02.17.431682

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Microbiology
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (2521)
  • Biochemistry (4970)
  • Bioengineering (3476)
  • Bioinformatics (15192)
  • Biophysics (6888)
  • Cancer Biology (5383)
  • Cell Biology (7723)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (4524)
  • Ecology (7139)
  • Epidemiology (2059)
  • Evolutionary Biology (10213)
  • Genetics (7505)
  • Genomics (9776)
  • Immunology (4829)
  • Microbiology (13191)
  • Molecular Biology (5132)
  • Neuroscience (29393)
  • Paleontology (203)
  • Pathology (836)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (1462)
  • Physiology (2132)
  • Plant Biology (4738)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1008)
  • Synthetic Biology (1337)
  • Systems Biology (4005)
  • Zoology (768)