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Rate-sensitive attenuation of elasticity in growth-conditioned biofilms

L. Dinis1,2,*, M. Calero3,4,5,6, J. Martín-Roca1,7, V. Bianco3,7, A. K. Monnappa2,3, I. López-Montero2,3,8, B. Orgaz8,9, C. Valeriani1,2,†, and F. Monroy3,4,10,‡

  • *Contact author: ldinis@ucm.es
  • †Contact author: cvaleriani@ucm.es
  • ‡Contact author: monroy@ucm.es
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Phys. Rev. E 114, 055412 – Published 12 November, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/y8kn-t97b

Abstract

We show that growth conditions organize the mechanics of Pseudomonas fluorescens biofilms into two separable contributions: a structural elastic backbone and a rate-sensitive attenuation of elastic load bearing under fixed-amplitude oscillatory forcing. Biofilms grown under both static and shaken conditions display weakly dispersive viscoelasticity at low frequency, consistent with a soft-glassy-like elastic background. At higher frequencies, mature biofilms grown under static conditions undergo a pronounced suppression of the storage modulus and cross into a dissipation-dominated regime, whereas shaken biofilms preserve a predominantly solid-like response. Particle-based simulations with permanent crosslinks recover the observed association between elastic stiffness and crossover timescale, establishing permanent connectivity as a sufficient structural route to this dynamical scaling within the simulated model. Their persistent high-frequency elastic response isolates the attenuation observed experimentally as a distinct kinetic contribution. We represent this contribution with a minimal kinetic model in which the effective load-bearing response progressively decreases above a characteristic forcing scale. The combined results establish a structural-kinetic decomposition in which connectivity sets the stiffness and characteristic timescale of the elastic backbone, while kinetics regulates its engagement under rapid forcing. This framework links growth-conditioned architecture to rate-sensitive elasticity in biofilms and other restructuring disordered materials.

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Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. E 114, 055412– Published 12 November, 2026
  • Received 5 May 2026
  • Revised 25 August 2026
  • Accepted 8 October 2026
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