Biofilms as living soft materials: Towards a mechanistic description of their linear and nonlinear mechanics.

Authors

Eleonora Secchi

Published in

Physical review. E. Volume 114. Issue 2-1. Pages 021001.

Abstract

Biofilms are living materials composed of a cross-linked polymer matrix embedding active bacterial cells, whose mechanical behavior emerges from the collective organization of cells within the matrix. While significant progress has been made in characterizing their linear viscoelastic properties, this regime captures only a limited subset of their mechanical behavior, and the most relevant processes-adaptation and detachment-occur at large deformations. Experimental studies reveal a rich spectrum of nonlinear behaviors, yet a predictive description linking microscopic structure to macroscopic mechanical response remains lacking. This gap stems from the dynamic coupling between composition, structure, and biological regulation, and their temporal evolution. In this Perspective, we propose that reframing biofilms as living soft materials provides a framework for identifying the key physical variables required to mechanistically describe nonlinear mechanical behavior.

PMID:
42768587
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 22 Sep 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.