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journal article Nov 08, 2022

Effects of biofilm heterogeneity on the apparent mechanical properties obtained by shear rheometry

Mengfei Li ORCID Yanina Nahum Karel Matouš Paul Stoodley ORCID Robert Nerenberg ORCID
Biotechnology and Bioengineering Vol. 120 No. 2 pp. 553-561 · Wiley
View at Publisher Save 10.1002/bit.28276
Abstract
AbstractRheometry is an experimental technique widely used to determine the mechanical properties of biofilms. However, it characterizes the bulk mechanical behavior of the whole biofilm. The effects of biofilm mechanical heterogeneity on rheometry measurements are not known. We used laboratory experiments and computer modeling to explore the effects of biofilm mechanical heterogeneity on the results obtained by rheometry. A synthetic biofilm with layered mechanical properties was studied, and a viscoelastic biofilm theory was employed using the Kelvin–Voigt model. Agar gels with different concentrations were used to prepare the layered, heterogeneous biofilm, which was characterized for mechanical properties in shear mode with a rheometer. Both experiments and simulations indicated that the biofilm properties from rheometry were strongly biased by the weakest portion of the biofilm. The simulation results using linearly stratified mechanical properties from a previous study also showed that the weaker portions of the biofilm dominated the mechanical properties in creep tests. We note that the model can be used as a predictive tool to explore the mechanical behavior of complex biofilm structures beyond those accessible to experiments. Since most biofilms display some degree of mechanical heterogeneity, our results suggest caution should be used in the interpretation of rheometry data. It does not necessarily provide the “average” mechanical properties of the entire biofilm if the mechanical properties are stratified.
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References
45
[11]
Ferry J. D. (1980)
[39]
Physiological heterogeneity in biofilms

Philip S. Stewart, Michael J. Franklin

Nature Reviews Microbiology 10.1038/nrmicro1838
Metrics
8
Citations
45
References
Details
Published
Nov 08, 2022
Vol/Issue
120(2)
Pages
553-561
License
View
Authors
M
Mengfei Li

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences University of Notre Dame Notre Dame Indiana USA

Y
Yanina Nahum

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences University of Notre Dame Notre Dame Indiana USA

K
Karel Matouš

Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering University of Notre Dame Notre Dame Indiana USA

P
Paul Stoodley

Department of Microbial Infection and Immunity The Ohio State University Columbus Ohio USA; National Biofilm Innovation Centre (NBIC) and National Centre for Advanced Tribology at Southampton (nCATS), Mechanical Engineering University of Southampton Southampton United Kingdom

R
Robert Nerenberg

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences University of Notre Dame Notre Dame Indiana USA

Funding
National Science Foundation Award: 1805406
Cite This Article
Mengfei Li, Yanina Nahum, Karel Matouš, et al. (2022). Effects of biofilm heterogeneity on the apparent mechanical properties obtained by shear rheometry. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 120(2), 553-561. https://doi.org/10.1002/bit.28276
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