Abstract
Biofilms are surface-associated conglomerates of bacteria that are highly resistant to antibiotics. These bacterial communities can cause chronic infections in humans by colonizing, for example, medical implants, heart valves, or lungs. Staphylococcus aureus, a notorious human pathogen, causes some of the most common biofilm-related infections. Despite the clinical importance of S. aureus biofilms, it remains mostly unknown how physical effects, in particular flow, and surface structure influence biofilm dynamics. Here we use model microfluidic systems to investigate how environmental factors, such as surface geometry, surface chemistry, and fluid flow affect biofilm development of S. aureus. We discovered that S. aureus rapidly forms flow-induced, filamentous biofilm streamers, and furthermore if surfaces are coated with human blood plasma, streamers appear within minutes and clog the channels more rapidly than if the channels are uncoated. To understand how biofilm streamer filaments reorient in flows with curved streamlines to bridge the distances between corners, we developed a mathematical model based on resistive force theory of slender filaments. Understanding physical aspects of biofilm formation of S. aureus may lead to new approaches for interrupting biofilm formation of this pathogen.
Highlights
Staphylococcus aureus is a human pathogen notorious for causing hospital-acquired infections as well as fatal infections that occur outside of health care settings [1,2,3]
In microfluidic channels containing corners and flow, all four agr groups of S. aureus strains that we examined rapidly form biofilm streamers, with slight differences in morphology
The time scale for S. aureus biofilm streamer initiation is not sufficient for substantial cell growth, when the surfaces are coated with human blood plasma, which indicates that cell growth is not essential for S. aureus streamer formation
Summary
Staphylococcus aureus is a human pathogen notorious for causing hospital-acquired infections as well as fatal infections that occur outside of health care settings [1,2,3]. In microfluidic channels containing corners and flow (figure 1a), all four agr groups of S. aureus strains that we examined rapidly form biofilm streamers (figure 1b and Supplement figure 1), with slight differences in morphology. Blood plasma coating expedites biofilm streamer formation and clogging of the channel
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