Mesoscopic ring element growth and deformation induced biofilm streamer evolution in microfluidic channels

Abstract

In a fluid environment, biofilms usually form and grow into streamers attached to solid surfaces. Existing research on single streamers studied their formation and failure modes. In the experiment on biofilm growth in a microfluidic channel, we found that rings composed of bacteria and an extracellular matrix are important elements on a mesoscopic scale. In the fluid environment, the failure of these ring elements causes damage to streamers. We simulated the growth and deformation of the ring structure in the micro-channel using multi-agent simulation and fluid–structure coupling of a porous elastic body. Based on this, we simulated the biofilm evolution involving multi-ring deformation, which provides a new length scale to study the biofilm streamer dynamics in fluid environments. HIGHLIGHTS We found that the mesoscopic element of the biofilm streamer formed in the micro-channel.; The failure of the ring element is the cause of damage to the streamer.; We used multi-agent simulation and fluid–structure interaction of a porous elastomer to simulate the deformation of a single ring element in the fluid environment and consider its growth.;

Keywords

• bacillus subtilis biofilm streamer
• fluid–structure interaction
• microfluidic channel
• multi-agent simulation
• ring structure