high-resolution-patterned-biofilm-deposition-using-pdawn-ag43

High-resolution Patterned Biofilm Deposition Using pDawn-Ag43

Spatial structure and patterning play an important role in bacterial biofilms. Here we demonstrate an accessible method for culturing E. coli biofilms ...

Stanford University

Lateral inhibition represents a well-studied example of biology's ability to self-organize multicellular spatial patterns with single-cell precision. Despite established biochemical mechanisms for lateral inhibition (e.g., Delta-Notch), it remains unclear how cell-cell signaling delays inherent to these mechanisms affect patterning outcomes. We investigate a compact model of lateral inhibition highlighting these delays and find, remarkably, that long delays can ensure defect-free patterning. This effect is underscored by an interplay with synchronous oscillations, cis interactions, and signaling strength. Our results suggest that signaling delays, though previously posited as a source of developmental defects, may in fact be a general regulatory knob for tuning developmental robustness. 

Signaling Delays Preclude Defects in Lateral Inhibition Patterning.

Bacterial biofilms represent a promising opportunity for engineering of microbial communities. However, our ability to control spatial structure in biofilms remains limited. Here we engineer  with a light-activated transcriptional promoter (pDawn) to optically regulate expression of an adhesin gene (Ag43). When illuminated with patterned blue light, long-term viable biofilms with spatial resolution down to 25 μm can be formed on a variety of substrates and inside enclosed culture chambers without the need for surface pretreatment. A biophysical model suggests that the patterning mechanism involves stimulation of transiently surface-adsorbed cells, lending evidence to a previously proposed role of adhesin expression during natural biofilm maturation. Overall, this tool-termed "Biofilm Lithography"-has distinct advantages over existing cell-depositing/patterning methods and provides the ability to grow structured biofilms, with applications toward an improved understanding of natural biofilm communities, as well as the engineering of living biomaterials and bottom-up approaches to microbial consortia design.

Xiaofan Jin

Department of Bioengineering

Stanford University

High-resolution Patterned Biofilm Deposition Using pDawn-Ag43

Xiaofan Jin

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Stanford University

High-resolution Patterned Biofilm Deposition Using pDawn-Ag43

Department of Bioengineering