Intra-colony channel morphology in Escherichia coli biofilms is governed by nutrient availability and substrate stiffness.
Intra-colony channel morphology in Escherichia coli biofilms is governed by nutrient availability and substrate stiffness.
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最近在成熟的大肠杆菌生物膜中发现了营养物质转运通道，然而对菌落内通道结构与周围环境条件之间的关系知之甚少。使用荧光介观和专门设计的开源定量图像分析管道的组合，我们表明生长基质组成和营养物质的可用性对成熟大肠杆菌中菌落内通道的形态有着深远的影响。大肠杆菌生物膜。在所有营养条件下，观察到菌落内通道宽度随着与生物膜中心的径向距离而非线性地增加。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，通道密度也不同，前者产生紧密堆积的通道网络，后者产生分离良好的、具有限定边缘的更宽通道。我们的方法为测量各种生物膜的内部模式铺平了道路，为感染和致病性提供了新的见解。
Nutrient-transporting channels have been recently discovered in mature Escherichia coli 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 E. coli 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.