Figures
Oscillating Biofilms Modeled and Observed
An agent-based model of electrochemical signaling in a Bacillus subtilis biofilm predicts spatially patterned membrane potential oscillations (left side), which are validated in experiments with fluorescent membrane potential reporters in microfluidic-grown biofilms (right side). The line traces show out-of-phase signaling dynamics between the biofilm interior and exterior, found in both our model and in vitro observations. Mulder et al. 2025
Image Credit: Maya Peters Kostman
Citation: (2026) PLoS Computational Biology Issue Image | Vol. 21(12) January 2026. PLoS Comput Biol 21(12): ev21.i12. https://doi.org/10.1371/image.pcbi.v21.i12
Published: January 27, 2026
Copyright: © 2026 . This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
An agent-based model of electrochemical signaling in a Bacillus subtilis biofilm predicts spatially patterned membrane potential oscillations (left side), which are validated in experiments with fluorescent membrane potential reporters in microfluidic-grown biofilms (right side). The line traces show out-of-phase signaling dynamics between the biofilm interior and exterior, found in both our model and in vitro observations. Mulder et al. 2025
Image Credit: Maya Peters Kostman