Paper Number
BL2 My Program
Session
Biomaterials, Bio-fluid Dynamics and Biorheology
Title
Using exogenous polymers to engineer biofilm viscoelasticity
Presentation Date and Time
October 20, 2025 (Monday) 10:10
Track / Room
Track 6 / Sweeney Ballroom C
Authors
- Bhattarai, Bikash (Texas Tech University)
- Christopher, Gordon F. (Texas Tech University)
Author and Affiliation Lines
Bikash Bhattarai and Gordon F. Christopher
Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79410
Speaker / Presenter
Bhattarai, Bikash
Keywords
biomaterials; biorheology
Text of Abstract
Using Exogenous Polymers to Engineer Biofilm Viscoelasticity Abstract A large percentage of bacteria exist in sessile communities surrounded by self-secreted extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), better known as biofilms. Biofilms are increasingly found in applications in which their viscoelasticity influences outcomes including bioremediation, wastewater cleanup, and/or biofuel production. Ideally, to improve outcomes, biofilm viscoelasticity could be manipulated to achieve a desired response. Exogenous polymers are well known to impact planktonic bacterial behavior and previous work from our lab has demonstrated they can also substantially alter biofilm mechanics. However, the potential influence of polymers on biofilm viscoelasticity is largely unexplored. Building on previous results, we investigate how exogenous polysaccharides with varying charge and molecular weights can be used to impact biofilm viscoelasticity in a controlled manner.
Biofilms of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which has a well characterized EPS, are grown in the presence of negative, neutral, and positive polysaccharides of varying molecular weight at concentrations where there is no planktonic antibacterial effect. Passive microrheology was employed to evaluate biofilms viscoelasticity. Results showed that neutral polymers had minimal impact on biofilms viscoelasticity whereas all charged polymers, both anionic and cationic, exhibited a stiffening effect on biofilms. In addition, the increase in stiffening is linked to the stiffness of the individual polymer incorporated into the biofilm.