TY - JOUR T1 - Phage mobility is a core determinant of phage-bacteria coexistence in biofilms JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/086462 SP - 086462 AU - Matthew Simmons AU - Knut Drescher AU - Carey D. Nadell AU - Vanni Bucci Y1 - 2017/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/05/30/086462.abstract N2 - Many bacteria are adapted for attaching to surfaces and for building complex communities, termed biofilms. The biofilm mode of life is predominant in bacterial ecology. So, too, is exposure of bacteria to ubiquitous viral pathogens, termed bacteriophages. Although biofilm-phage encounters are likely to be very common in nature, little is known about how phages might interact with biofilm-dwelling bacteria. It is also unclear how the ecological dynamics of phages and their hosts depend on the biological and physical properties of the biofilm environment. To make headway in this area, here we develop the first biofilm simulation framework that captures key features of biofilm growth and phage infection. Using these simulations, we find that the equilibrium state of interaction between biofilms and phages is governed largely by nutrient availability to biofilms, phage infection likelihood, and the ability of phages to diffuse through biofilm populations. Interactions between the biofilm matrix and phage particles are thus likely to be of fundamental importance, controlling the extent to which bacteria and phages can coexist in natural contexts. Our results open avenues to new questions of host-parasite coevolution in the spatially structured biofilm context. ER -