Spatiotemporal dynamics of phage-biofilm interactions*

Bacteriophage (`phage') - viruses that infect and lyse bacteria - can be deployed therapeutically to treat infections caused by bacterial pathogens. However most reported studies of the therapeutic potential of phage neglect the spatial heterogeneity in bacterial communities, e.g., in microcolonies and biofilms. Here, we present experiments, theory, and simulations that investigate the spatiotemporal dynamics arising from interactions between P. aeruginosa and phage. Time-dependent high resolution confocal imaging is used to examine how phage propagate through spatial domains of bacteria. Together with a three dimensional multi-scale modeling approach, our results shed light on how phage shape the emergence (and potential collapse) of microcolonies and biofilms.