Bioengineering Seminar - Professor Jing Yan - Single-cell Imaging of Microbial Communities across Different Spatial and Temporal Scales

Biofilm is an important lifestyle of bacteria where bacterial cells collectively form surface-associated aggregates embedded in a polymeric matrix they secrete. Important in industry and medicine, biofilms also represent a unique form of growing active matter with unique physical and material properties. In this talk, I will highlight our recent work on developing a platform for imaging live, growing biofilm at single-cell resolution, using Vibrio cholerae as the model organism. I will show how bacterial cells physically communicate with each other and the environment to form ordered architecture reminiscent of  liquid crystals. Moreover, I will talk about our recent discovery that heterogeneity in gene expression leads to unexpected pattern formation in biofilm through a drag-based sorting mechanism. I will also highlight ongoing research in the lab on extending the imaging capability to more natural environments including marine animal hosts. I will end by showing our recent findings on the mechanical properties of the extracellular matrix that underlie the architecture of the biofilm.