Real-time characterization of the mechanical behaviour of an actively growing bacterial culture by rheology

TL;DR

This study uses rheology to monitor real-time mechanical changes in a bacterial culture, revealing viscoelastic behavior linked to bacterial growth, aggregation, and physiological changes, with implications for understanding microbial dynamics.

Contribution

It introduces a rheological method to characterize bacterial growth and activity in real-time, highlighting viscoelastic properties and percolation phenomena during culture development.

Findings

Viscosity increased ~10 times during bacterial growth.

Viscoelastic moduli followed power law behaviors consistent with soft glassy materials.

Viscosity returned to initial value as bacteria physiology changed.

Abstract

The population growth of a Staphylococcus aureus culture was followed by rheological measurements, under steady-state and dynamic shear flows. We observed a rich viscoelastic behaviour as a consequence of the bacteria activity. First, the viscosity increased ~10 times due to cell multiplication and aggregation. This viscosity increase presented several drops and full recoveries, which are reproducible, allowing us to evoke the existence of a percolation phenomenon. Eventually, as the bacteria population reached a final stage of development, fulfilling the sample volume, the viscosity returned to its initial value, most probably caused by a change in the bacteria physiological activity, in particular the decrease of their adhesion properties. Finally, the viscous and the elastic moduli presented power law behaviours compatible with the "soft glassy materials" model, which exponents are dependent on the bacteria growth stage.