Growth of Stress-Responsive Bacteria in 3D Colonies under Confining Pressure

We numerically study three-dimensional colonies of nonmotile stress-responsive bacteria growing under confining isotropic pressure in a nutrient-rich environment. We develop a novel simulation method to demonstrate how imposing an external pressure leads to a denser aggregate and strengthens the mechanical interactions between bacteria. Unlike rigid confinements that prevent bacterial growth, confining pressure acts as a soft constraint and allows colony expansion with a nearly linear long-term population growth and colony size. Enhancing the mechanosensitivity reduces instantaneous bacterial growth rates and the overall colony size, though its impact is modest compared to pressure for our studied set of biologically relevant parameter values. The doubling time grows exponentially at low mechanosensitivity or pressure in our bacterial growth model. We provide an analytical estimate of the doubling time and develop a population dynamics model consistent with our simulations. Our findings align with previous experimental results for E. coli colonies under pressure. Understanding the growth dynamics of stress-responsive bacteria under mechanical stresses provides insight into their adaptive response to varying environmental conditions.