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Updated: Jun 3, 2025
13:28
Single-cell Analysis of Bacillus subtilis Biofilms Using Fluorescence Microscopy and Flow Cytometry
Published on: February 15, 2012
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An Agent-Based Model of Metabolic Signaling Oscillations in Bacillus subtilis Biofilms
Obadiah J Mulder1, Maya Peters Kostman2, Abdulrahmen Almodaimegh2
1Department of Quantitative and Computational Biology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Biorxiv : the Preprint Server for Biology
|January 7, 2025
Summary
Agent-based models reveal how cellular variations impact biofilm communication. Oscillations in Bacillus subtilis biofilms ensure even nutrient distribution, preventing starvation in the core.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Computational Biology
- Biophysics
Background:
- Microbial biofilms are cell communities encased in a self-produced matrix.
- Cellular variations' impact on collective behaviors like cell-to-cell signaling in biofilms is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how cellular variations influence colony-level behaviors in biofilms using computational modeling.
- To model metabolically driven electrochemical signaling in Bacillus subtilis biofilms.
Main Methods:
- Developed an agent-based computational model simulating cellular metabolism and electrochemical signaling.
- Coupled individual cell membrane potential to metabolism and nutrient levels.
- Simulated biofilm growth and nutrient dynamics.
Main Results:
- Collective membrane potential oscillations arise spontaneously in simulated biofilms.
- Oscillations lead to even nutrient distribution, contrasting with non-oscillating biofilms' starved core.
- Biofilms synchronize more strongly to external potassium than glutamate.
Conclusions:
- Agent-based models can link cellular properties to collective biofilm phenomena.
- Electrochemical signaling and oscillations play a key role in biofilm nutrient distribution and synchronization.
- This work provides a framework for studying the evolution of group behaviors in biofilms based on inherited cellular traits.
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