Regensburg 2016 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik
DY 28: Poster - Complex Fluids, Granular Matter, Glasses
DY 28.3: Poster
Dienstag, 8. März 2016, 18:15–21:00, Poster C
Long wave modelling of osmotic spreading of biofilms — •Sarah Trinschek1,2, Uwe Thiele1,2, and Karin John3 — 1Institut für Theoretische Physik, WWU, Münster, Germany — 2Center of Nonlinear Science (CeNoS), WWU, Münster, Germany — 3Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire de Physique, CNRS / Université Grenoble-Alpes, Saint-Martin-d'Hères, France
Biofilms are ubiquitous macrocolonies of bacteria that develop at interfaces. Their widespread occurrence and either detrimental or beneficial function implies that it is highly important to understand the principles underlying their development. Biofilm formation starts with the attachment of individual bacteria to a surface, which then proliferate and produce a slimy polymeric matrix - two processes that result in colony growth and spreading.
Our model is based on thermodynamically consitent gradient dynamics developed for passive thin liquid mixtures. We supplement this approach by active processes (i.e. proliferation of bacteria and the secretion of polymeric matrix) that cause volume growth. Osmotic pressure gradients are generated as cells consume water and nutrient to produce biomass. This osmotic imbalance causes swelling and spreading of the biofilm through uptake of water from the moist agar substrate. We treat the system within a coarse-grained long-wave approach assuming that the thickness of the biofilm is small as compared to the typical length scale of lateral variations in film height and composition. This allows us to study the dynamics of swelling droplets with direct time simulations and analyse the front velocity of spreading biofilms.