Interactions and transitions in biofilm formation

Biofilms are multicellular, interacting communities of intrinsically-unicellular organisms that grow on surfaces. As such, they are fascinating model systems for multicellularity. They are also of great practical importance, since biofilms damage a variety of industrial infrastructure and are the cause of most persistent, antibiotic-resistant infections. In natural settings, most bacteria are found in biofilms. To initiate a biofilm, planktonic, free-swimming bacteria attach to a surface and then undergo a series of phenotypic changes as that adhesion becomes irreversible and the surface is populated, first by discrete bacteria, and then bacteria growing in dense clusters, ``microcolonies.'' Both adhesion to a surface and adhesion to other cells are associated with adhesive properties of cell-produced extracellular polysaccharides (EPSs). Using laser tweezers to test cell aggregation and aggregate stability, in combination with gene expression assays and gene-knockouts, we show the importance of one EPS, pel, for early cell aggregation. We also use automated bacteria-identification and --tracking software algorithims to identify and quantify key transitions early in biofilm formation.