Interfacial Morphodynamics of Proliferating Microbial Communities
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1.
Princeton University
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2.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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3.
California Institute of Technology
Abstract
In microbial communities, various cell types often coexist by occupying distinct spatial domains. What determines the shape of the interface between such domains—which, in turn, influences the interactions between cells and overall community function? Here, we address this question by developing a continuum model of a 2D spatially structured microbial community with two distinct cell types. We find that, depending on the balance of the different cell proliferation rates and substrate friction coefficients, the interface between domains is either stable and smooth or unstable and develops fingerlike protrusions. We establish quantitative principles describing when these different interfacial behaviors arise and find good agreement with both the results of previous experimental reports as well as new experiments performed here. Our work, thus, helps to provide a biophysical basis for understanding the interfacial morphodynamics of proliferating microbial communities as well as a broader range of proliferating active systems. Published by the American Physical Society 2025
Copyright and License
Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.
Acknowledgement
A. M.-C. acknowledges support from the Princeton Center for Theoretical Science, the Center for the Physics of Biological Function, and the Human Frontier Science Program through Grant No. LT000035/2021-C. C. T.-Y. acknowledges support from the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation through the 2023 Damon Runyon Quantitative Biology Fellowship (DRQ-17-23), the New Jersey Department of Health, the Division of Office of Research Initiatives, and the New Jersey Commission on Cancer Research (NJCCR) through the 2023 NJCCR Postdoctoral Research Grant. H. L. and J. G. acknowledge support from MIT Physics of Living Systems and the Sloan Foundation through Grant No. G-2021-16758. N. S. W. acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through the Center for the Physics of Biological Function PHY-1734030 and the National Institutes of Health through Grant No. R01 GM082938. S. S. D. acknowledges support from NSF Grant No. CBET-1941716, No. DMR-2011750, and No. EF-2124863, as well as the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar and Pew Biomedical Scholars Programs, the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Transformative Technology Fund, and the Princeton Catalysis Initiative. We thank Howard A. Stone and Hongbo Zhao for thoughtful discussions.
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Additional details
- International Human Frontier Science Program Organization
- LT000035/2021-C
- Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation
- New Jersey Department of Health
- Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
- G-2021-16758
- National Science Foundation
- CBET-1941716
- National Science Foundation
- DMR-2011750
- National Science Foundation
- EF-2124863
- National Institutes of Health
- R01 GM082938
- Princeton Center for Theoretical Science
- Division of Office of Research Initiatives
- New Jersey Commission on Cancer Research
- Center for the Physics of Biological Function
- PHY-1734030
- Accepted
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2024-12-04Accepted
- Available
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2025-01-29Published online
- Caltech groups
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering (CCE)
- Publication Status
- Published