Bottura Beatrice, Rooney Liam M, Hoskisson Paul A, McConnell Gail
Department of Physics, SUPA, University of Strathclyde, G4 0NG, Glasgow, UK.
Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Strathclyde, G4 0RE, Glasgow, UK.
Biofilm. 2022 Sep 26;4:100084. doi: 10.1016/j.bioflm.2022.100084. eCollection 2022 Dec.
Nutrient-transporting channels have been recently discovered in mature biofilms, however the relationship between intra-colony channel structure and the surrounding environmental conditions is poorly understood. Using a combination of fluorescence mesoscopy and a purpose-designed open-source quantitative image analysis pipeline, we show that growth substrate composition and nutrient availability have a profound effect on the morphology of intra-colony channels in mature biofilms. Under all nutrient conditions, intra-colony channel width was observed to increase non-linearly with radial distance from the centre of the biofilm. Notably, the channels were around 25% wider at the centre of carbon-limited biofilms compared to nitrogen-limited biofilms. Channel density also differed in colonies grown on rich and minimal media, with the former creating a network of tightly packed channels and the latter leading to well-separated, wider channels with defined edges. Our approach paves the way for measurement of internal patterns in a wide range of biofilms, offering the potential for new insights into infection and pathogenicity.
最近在成熟生物膜中发现了营养物质运输通道，然而，菌落内部通道结构与周围环境条件之间的关系却知之甚少。通过结合荧光显微镜检查和专门设计的开源定量图像分析管道，我们发现生长底物组成和营养物质可用性对成熟生物膜中菌落内部通道的形态有深远影响。在所有营养条件下，观察到菌落内部通道宽度随着与生物膜中心的径向距离呈非线性增加。值得注意的是，与氮限制生物膜相比，碳限制生物膜中心的通道宽约25%。在丰富培养基和基本培养基上生长的菌落中，通道密度也有所不同，前者形成紧密堆积的通道网络，后者则形成边缘清晰、分隔良好且更宽的通道。我们的方法为测量各种生物膜中的内部模式铺平了道路，为深入了解感染和致病性提供了新的可能性。
