PATTERNED BIOFILM FORMATION TO INVESTIGATE BACTERIA-SURFACE INTERACTIONS

Bacterial adhesion to surfaces and subsequent formation of microcolonies play important roles in biofilm formation, which is a major cause of chronic infections and persistent biofouling. Despite the significance, mechanistic understanding of biofilm formation is still hindered by the structural heterogeneity in biofilms; and effective control of biofilm formation remains challenging. Biofilm formation is a dynamic process that involves numerous changes in bacterial gene and protein expression. These changes are highly sensitive to environmental factors such as surface chemistry, topography, charge, and hydrophobicity. To better control biofilm morphology and specifically investigate the effects of these factors, a platform was developed in this study to obtain patterned biofilm formation using surfaces with well-defined patterns of chemistry and topography. By modifying surfaces with systematically varied square patterns of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of functional alkanthiols, the size of cell clusters and inter-cluster distance were well controlled. By following biofilm formation o