Research ‘Biofilm-in-Capillary’: A new view into microbial architecture

Bacterial biofilms are cell groups surrounded by a self-made protective matrix essential for many  applications, like ecology, medicine and food technology. Yet, their intriguing architecture is challenging to study in 3D. To enable 3D analysis of bacterial biofilms, our team (led by PD Dr. Venera Weinhardt COS) together with collaboration partners at the Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologiel  and the National Center for X-ray Tomography developed the ‘biofilm-in-capillary’ framework compatible with cryo-soft X-ray tomography. This approach allows, for the first time, to capture high-resolution (at 50 nm) 3D images of biofilms  under different growth conditions, making it possible to analyze biofilm structure in 3D quickly and accurately. Studying B.subtilis biofilms, our team found that wild-type bacteria aligned and formed chains toward the oxygen-rich tip of the capillary, in contrast to mutant cells missing a key matrix-related protein (tasA), with lack of  organization and changes in the extracellular matrix in formed biofilms. This research opens avenues to studying different biofilm types, including mixed-species biofilms, and how they respond to genetic changes and environmental conditions.