Matrix-controlled emergence of biofilm architecture shapes antimicrobial survival
- 1KU Leuven, Belgium
Abstract
Biofilms are structured microbial communities whose extracellular matrix is widely regarded as a basis of their protection against antimicrobial compounds. Yet how matrix production by individual bacteria gives rise to collective architecture and antimicrobial protection remains poorly understood. Here, we systematically varied expression of the master biofilm regulator csgD in Salmonella enterica and found that increasing matrix production reorganizes biofilms from dense, isotropic packings into sparse, nematically aligned communities by altering cell-cell interactions. By combining experimentally measured biofilm architectures with reaction-diffusion modeling, we show that these structural changes produce distinct patterns of antimicrobial killing, ranging from preferential killing near the liquid-biofilm interface to more uniform killing throughout the community. Consequently, increasing matrix production unexpectedly reduces antimicrobial survival by shifting the biofilm into different transport regimes, while strain-specific physiological differences further modulate antimicrobial depletion. Rather than acting as a passive barrier, EPS therefore shapes antimicrobial susceptibility by reorganizing biofilm architecture and its transport properties. EPS thus provides a physical link between molecular regulation, collective architecture and antimicrobial survival, providing a quantitative framework for understanding how cellular matrix production generates emergent biofilm function.
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BibTeX
@misc{belpaire2026matrixcontrolled,
title = {{Matrix-controlled emergence of biofilm architecture shapes antimicrobial survival}},
author = {T. E. R. Belpaire and J. J. J. Meesters and T. Debord and J. Pesek and B. Lories and P. J. Yunker and H. P. Steenackers and B. Smeets},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.25.752283},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.25.752283v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Matrix-controlled emergence of biofilm architecture shapes antimicrobial survival
AU - T. E. R. Belpaire
AU - J. J. J. Meesters
AU - T. Debord
AU - J. Pesek
AU - B. Lories
AU - P. J. Yunker
AU - H. P. Steenackers
AU - B. Smeets
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/25
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.25.752283
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.25.752283v1
AB - Biofilms are structured microbial communities whose extracellular matrix is widely regarded as a basis of their protection against antimicrobial compounds. Yet how matrix production by individual bacteria gives rise to collective architecture and antimicrobial protection remains poorly understood. Here, we systematically varied expression of the master biofilm regulator csgD in Salmonella enterica and found that increasing matrix production reorganizes biofilms from dense, isotropic packings into sparse, nematically aligned communities by altering cell-cell interactions. By combining experimentally measured biofilm architectures with reaction-diffusion modeling, we show that these structural changes produce distinct patterns of antimicrobial killing, ranging from preferential killing near the liquid-biofilm interface to more uniform killing throughout the community. Consequently, increasing matrix production unexpectedly reduces antimicrobial survival by shifting the biofilm into different transport regimes, while strain-specific physiological differences further modulate antimicrobial depletion. Rather than acting as a passive barrier, EPS therefore shapes antimicrobial susceptibility by reorganizing biofilm architecture and its transport properties. EPS thus provides a physical link between molecular regulation, collective architecture and antimicrobial survival, providing a quantitative framework for understanding how cellular matrix production generates emergent biofilm function.
ER -