School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China.
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, 02138 Cambridge MA, USA.
Can J Microbiol. 2023 Jul 1;69(7):251-261. doi: 10.1139/cjm-2023-0014. Epub 2023 Mar 9.
Material properties and growth environments affect the surface morphology of biofilms. Taken the biofilm growing in competitive environments as the object, which is compared with the single biofilm, we find that the competitive environment has an impact on the biofilm thickness and wrinkle patterns. Through diffusion-limited growth theoretical model analysis, it shows that the competitive environment is caused by cells competing for nutrition, and the competitive environment reacts on biofilms, which affect the phenotypic differentiation, causing changes in the stiffness of the biofilm. Using the theoretical and finite element simulation, we compare these results of bi-layer and tri-layer film-substrate models with experimental observations, and find that tri-layer film-substrate model is in line with the reality, which means that the layer between the biofilm and substrate plays an import role for wrinkle formation. Based on the above analysis, we further study effects of biofilm stiffness and interlayer thickness on wrinkles under competitive environment.
材料特性和生长环境会影响生物膜的表面形态。以竞争环境中生长的生物膜为对象，与单一生物膜相比，我们发现竞争环境会影响生物膜的厚度和皱纹模式。通过扩散限制生长理论模型分析，表明竞争环境是由细胞争夺营养引起的，竞争环境会对生物膜产生反应，影响表型分化，导致生物膜硬度发生变化。通过理论和有限元模拟，我们将双层和三层膜-基底模型的这些结果与实验观察进行比较，发现三层膜-基底模型更符合实际情况，这意味着生物膜和基底之间的层对于皱纹的形成起着重要的作用。基于上述分析，我们进一步研究了竞争环境下生物膜硬度和夹层厚度对皱纹的影响。
