Architecture of biofilms determined by differential mechanical forces in bacteria

Biophysicists in the laboratory of Professor Berenike Maier at the University of Cologne now could show how differential mechanical forces lead to cell sorting in biofilms, thus determining their architecture. The study of the team led by the biophysicist Enno Oldewurtel was published in the journal eLife. It showed how specific mechanical forces can be the key to the structure of a biofilm. Bacteria with different surface structures move to the direction which they could pull the strongest onto neighboring bacteria. The bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae controls mechanical interactions among cells with extensions which is called pili. These structures looks like rod and function like grappling hooks between cells — the pili of different cells get caught and then shortened. Then mechanical forces between cells are created. The team targeted genetic modifications and succeeded in steering the degree of entanglement between pili and hence the interaction forces between cells. Nanotechnology was used to measure the forces. The cells sorted themselves according to the mechanical forces they exerted among one another. In a word, the study showed that different mechanical interactions in bacteria can determine the architecture of biofilms. Thus this study has shown showed that different or differential physical interactions between the cells are of great importance for the sorting. Then, how far the cell sorting strengthens the biofilm's resilience towards external stress will be the next problem to be solved. Read more>>>http://www.cusabio.com/Polyclonal-Antibody/MAGEA10-Antibody-FITC-conjugated-11098210.html