Sporulation modulates viscoelastic development through extracellular matrix restructuring in Bacillus subtilis biofilms
- 1Boston University
Abstract
Biofilm formation--the establishment of cellular communities within a self-secreted polymer matrix--is a behavior exhibited by almost all species of bacteria. Bacterial biofilms are well described as viscoelastic materials, with properties that grant physical advantages, such as elastic resilience and viscous adaptability. Additionally, many biofilm-forming species produce a subpopulation of highly resilient spores. In the model biofilm- and spore-forming species Bacillus subtilis, sporulation and matrix production are regulated by a common gene pathway, provoking the question of how sporulation influences biofilm viscoelastic properties. Investigating this point will facilitate the management of both salutary and deleterious biofilms, especially through manipulating their establishment and dispersion. Here, we investigate the interplay of sporulation and viscoelastic properties using rheological measurements of B. subtilis biofilms with varied matrix and spore production. We find that, to a significantly greater extent than matrix production, biofilm physical development is strongly altered by activation of sporulation through the spo0A regulation pathway. Spore-deficient strains initially establish physically robust biofilms with linear viscoelastic properties and recovery behavior distinct from spore-producing biofilms. However, spore-deficient biofilms fail to maintain their physical properties over time. In contrast, spore-producing wild-type and matrix-mutant biofilms exhibit more stable physical properties. Our results demonstrate that cell-level gene regulation is associated with macroscopic mechanical transitions in cellular communities, with sporulation granting not only a cellular-level survival advantage, but also greater community-level physical stability.
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BibTeX
@misc{ducharme2026sporulation,
title = {{Sporulation modulates viscoelastic development through extracellular matrix restructuring in Bacillus subtilis biofilms}},
author = {N. A. Ducharme and J. Larkin},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.23.753867},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.23.753867v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Sporulation modulates viscoelastic development through extracellular matrix restructuring in Bacillus subtilis biofilms
AU - N. A. Ducharme
AU - J. Larkin
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/23
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.23.753867
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.23.753867v1
AB - Biofilm formation--the establishment of cellular communities within a self-secreted polymer matrix--is a behavior exhibited by almost all species of bacteria. Bacterial biofilms are well described as viscoelastic materials, with properties that grant physical advantages, such as elastic resilience and viscous adaptability. Additionally, many biofilm-forming species produce a subpopulation of highly resilient spores. In the model biofilm- and spore-forming species Bacillus subtilis, sporulation and matrix production are regulated by a common gene pathway, provoking the question of how sporulation influences biofilm viscoelastic properties. Investigating this point will facilitate the management of both salutary and deleterious biofilms, especially through manipulating their establishment and dispersion. Here, we investigate the interplay of sporulation and viscoelastic properties using rheological measurements of B. subtilis biofilms with varied matrix and spore production. We find that, to a significantly greater extent than matrix production, biofilm physical development is strongly altered by activation of sporulation through the spo0A regulation pathway. Spore-deficient strains initially establish physically robust biofilms with linear viscoelastic properties and recovery behavior distinct from spore-producing biofilms. However, spore-deficient biofilms fail to maintain their physical properties over time. In contrast, spore-producing wild-type and matrix-mutant biofilms exhibit more stable physical properties. Our results demonstrate that cell-level gene regulation is associated with macroscopic mechanical transitions in cellular communities, with sporulation granting not only a cellular-level survival advantage, but also greater community-level physical stability.
ER -