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Aiswarya, N M, Tabraiz, Shamas, Taneja, Himani, Ahmed, Asma and Aravinda Narayanan, R (2024) 'Nonlinear viscoelasticity of filamentous fungal biofilms of Neurospora discreta'. Biofilm, Vol 8, e100227.
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1-s2.0-S2590207524000522-main.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (6MB) | Preview |
Abstract
The picture of bacterial biofilms as a colloidal gel composed of rigid bacterial cells protected by extracellular crosslinked polymer matrix has been pivotal in understanding their ability to adapt their microstructure and viscoelasticity to environmental assaults. This work explores if an analogous perspective exists in fungal biofilms with long filamentous cells. To this end, we consider biofilms of the fungus Neurospora discreta formed on the air-liquid interface, which has shown an ability to remove excess nitrogen and phosphorous from wastewater effectively. We investigated the changes to the viscoelasticity and the microstructure of these biofilms when the biofilms uptake varying concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorous, using large amplitude oscillatory shear flow rheology (LAOS) and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), respectively. A distinctive peak in the loss modulus (G″) at 30–50 % shear strain is observed, indicating the transition from an elastic to plastic deformation state. Though a peak in G″ has been observed in several soft materials, including bacterial biofilms, it has eluded interpretation in terms of quantifiable microstructural features. The central finding of this work is that the intensity of the G″ peak, signifying resistance to large deformations, correlates directly with the protein and polysaccharide concentrations per unit biomass in the extracellular matrix and inversely with the shear-induced changes in filament orientation in the hyphal network. These correlations have implications for the rational design of fungal biofilms with tuneable mechanical properties.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | QW Microbiology and Immunology > Reference Works. General Immunology > QW 520 Research (General) WA Public Health > Preventive Medicine > WA 110 Prevention and control of communicable diseases. Transmission of infectious diseases WC Communicable Diseases > WC 15 Classification of infectious diseases |
| Faculty: Department: | Biological Sciences > Vector Biology Department |
| Digital Object Identifer (DOI): | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bioflm.2024.100227 |
| SWORD Depositor: | JISC Pubrouter |
| Depositing User: | JISC Pubrouter |
| Date Deposited: | 12 Nov 2024 09:20 |
| Last Modified: | 12 Nov 2024 09:20 |
| URI: | https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/25552 |
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