Pore-scale hydrodynamics influence the spatial evolution of bacterial biofilms in a microfluidic porous network

Aufrecht, Jayde A.; Fowlkes, Jason Davidson; Webb, Amber N.; Morrell-Falvey, Jennifer L.; Doktycz, Mitchel John; Retterer, Scott T.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0218316

Pore-scale hydrodynamics influence the spatial evolution of bacterial biofilms in a microfluidic porous network

Journal Article · Thu Jun 27 00:00:00 EDT 2019 · PLoS ONE

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218316· OSTI ID:1550761

Aufrecht, Jayde A. ^[1]; ^[2]; ^[3]; ^[1]; ^[1]; ^[1]

Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)

Bacteria occupy heterogeneous environments, attaching and growing within pores in materials, living hosts, and matrices like soil. Systems that permit high-resolution visualization of dynamic bacterial processes within the physical confines of a realistic and tractable porous media environment are rare. In this paper, we use microfluidics to replicate the grain shape and packing density of natural sands in a 2D platform to study the flow-induced spatial evolution of bacterial biofilms underground. We discover that initial bacterial dispersal and grain attachment is influenced by bacterial transport across pore space velocity gradients, a phenomenon otherwise known as rheotaxis. We find that gravity-driven flow conditions activate different bacterial cell-clustering phenotypes depending on the strain’s ability to product extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). A wildtype, biofilm-producing bacteria formed compact, multicellular patches while an EPS-defective mutant displayed a linked-cell phenotype in the presence of flow. Finally, these phenotypes subsequently influenced the overall spatial distribution of cells across the porous media network as colonies grew and altered the fluid dynamics of their microenvironment.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER) (SC-23)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 1550761

Journal Information:: PLoS ONE, Journal Name: PLoS ONE Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 14; ISSN 1932-6203

Publisher:: Public Library of ScienceCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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