The attachment of bacteria to a surface is often a key initial step in the development of biofilms, communities of bacteria that are significant contributors to disease, fouling, and damage to the built environment. Recently, work from several groups has indicated that bacteria may be able to sense and respond to mechanical cues from their environment. Understanding how bacteria sense surface attachment and, in response, begin the process of biofilm initiation, has the potential to give rise to new avenues to biofilm prevention; such understanding would also be a major advance in basic science, since very little is known about bacterial mechanosensing. Here, we examine the relationship between substrate stiffness, mechanical deformation of the bacterial cell, accumulation of bacteria on the surface, and dynamics of the cyclic-di-GMP intracellular signal that is widely used as a second messenger to control biofilm development. Our model organism for these studies is <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i>, a widely-used model organism for biofilm development and a common hospital-acquired pathogen. We find that when the chemistry of a gel substrate (alginate, agarose, or cross-linked poly-ethylene glycol) is held constant but the effective elasticity is varied, bacteria accumulate more on, and activate cyclic-di-GMP signaling earlier on, a stiffer substrate. We further show that the response to the substrate mechanics at times greater than one hour after attachment depends on different cellular structures than does the response to substrate mechanics at times less than one hour after attachment. This shows that bacterial mechanosensing leading to biofilm development is likely a multi-step process involving more than one sensory element.

Bacterial mechanosensing upon attachment to gels of different stiffness: Tale of two (or more?) steps

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.