A biophysical threshold for biofilm formation

TL;DR

This paper introduces a biophysical model that predicts bacterial biofilm formation based on factors like cell concentration, motility, nutrient dynamics, and quorum sensing, aiding in understanding and controlling biofilms.

Contribution

It presents a universal biophysical model that links multiple factors to biofilm formation, providing a predictive framework for diverse bacterial environments.

Findings

Establishes a universal rule for biofilm onset based on cell and environmental parameters.

Demonstrates the model's applicability across different bacterial species and conditions.

Provides insights into controlling biofilm formation in medical and industrial settings.

Abstract

Bacteria are ubiquitous in our daily lives, either as motile planktonic cells or as immobilized surface-attached biofilms. These different phenotypic states play key roles in agriculture, environment, industry, and medicine; hence, it is critically important to be able to predict the conditions under which bacteria transition from one state to the other. Unfortunately, these transitions depend on a dizzyingly complex array of factors that are determined by the intrinsic properties of the individual cells as well as those of their surrounding environments, and are thus challenging to describe. To address this issue, here, we develop a generally-applicable biophysical model of the interplay between motility-mediated dispersal and biofilm formation under positive quorum sensing control. Using this model, we establish a universal rule predicting how the onset and extent of biofilm formation depend collectively on cell concentration and motility, nutrient diffusion and consumption, chemotactic sensing, and autoinducer production. Our work thus provides a key step toward quantitatively predicting and controlling biofilm formation in diverse and complex settings.