We have a new paper on bioRxiv on how friction influences the development of bacterial biofilm. It was co-first-authored by Dr. Aawaz R. Pokhrel and Dr. Raymond Copeland.
In this work, we demonstrated that cell–substrate friction is a key physical parameter controlling biofilm morphology and expansion. Using white-light interferometry, we quantified how increasing surface friction increases biofilm contact angles and slows horizontal growth, consistent with a dynamic force balance model. These results establish friction as a general and overlooked determinant of biofilm development across diverse bacterial species.