ArticleBiophysical journal2015
Bacillus subtilis Bacteria Generate an Internal Mechanical Force within a Biofilm.
Article in Biophysical journal, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed.
- Cell Adhesion and Biofilm Development via Force-Sensitive Mechanisms: A Perspective.ACS biomaterials science & engineering · 2026Review
- Morphogenesis and mechanical properties ofCurrent research in microbial sciences · 2025Article
- Biofilms as more than the sum of their parts: lessons from developmental biology.Current opinion in microbiology · 2024Review
- Proliferating active matter.Nature reviews. Physics · 2023Review
- An open-source computational tool for measuring bacterial biofilm morphology and growth kinetics upon one-sided exposure to an antimicrobial source.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Probing the growth and mechanical properties ofSynthetic and systems biotechnology · 2022Article
- Groovy and Gnarly: Surface Wrinkles as a Multifunctional Motif for Terrestrial and Marine Environments.Integrative and comparative biology · 2022Article
- Systems view of Bacillus subtilis pellicle development.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2022Article
- Bacillus subtilis biofilm formation and social interactions.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2021Review
- Emergent spatiotemporal population dynamics with cell-length control of synthetic microbial consortia.PLoS computational biology · 2021Article
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- Review
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- Mechanomicrobiology: how bacteria sense and respond to forces.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2020Review
- Breakdown of Vibrio cholerae biofilm architecture induced by antibiotics disrupts community barrier function.Nature microbiology · 2019Article
- Regulating, Measuring, and Modeling the Viscoelasticity of Bacterial BiofilmsJournal of bacteriology · 2019Review
- Resolving biofilm topography by native scanning electron microscopy.Journal of biological methods · 2017Article
- Dynamic cell-matrix interactions modulate microbial biofilm and tissue 3D microenvironments.Current opinion in cell biology · 2016Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
A key issue in understanding why biofilms are the most prevalent mode of bacterial life is the origin of the degree of resistance and protection that bacteria gain from self-organizing into biofilm communities. Our experiments suggest that their mechanical properties are a key factor. Experiments on pellicles, or floating biofilms, of Bacillus subtilis showed that while they are multiplying and secreting extracellular substances, bacteria create an internal force (associated with a -80±25 Pa stress) within the biofilms, similar to the forces that self-equilibrate and strengthen plants, organs, and some engineered buildings. Here, we found that this force, or stress, is associated with growth-induced pressure. Our observations indicate that due to such forces, biofilms spread after any cut or ablation by up to 15-20% of their initial size. The force relaxes over very short timescales (tens of milliseconds). We conclude that this force helps bacteria to shape the biofilm, improve its mechanical resistance, and facilitate its invasion and self-repair.
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