{"doi":"10.7554/elife.64145","title":"Three-dimensional biofilm colony growth supports a mutualism involving matrix and nutrient sharing","abstract":"Life in a three-dimensional biofilm is typical for many bacteria, yet little is known about how strains interact in this context. Here, we created essential gene CRISPR interference knockdown libraries in biofilm-forming Bacillus subtilis and measured competitive fitness during colony co-culture with wild type. Partial knockdown of some translation-related genes reduced growth rates and led to out-competition. Media composition led some knockdowns to compete differentially as biofilm versus non-biofilm colonies. Cells depleted for the alanine racemase AlrA died in monoculture but survived in a biofilm colony co-culture via nutrient sharing. Rescue was enhanced in biofilm colony co-culture with a matrix-deficient parent due to a mutualism involving nutrient and matrix sharing. We identified several examples of mutualism involving matrix sharing that occurred in three-dimensional biofilm colonies but not when cultured in two dimensions. Thus, growth in a three-dimensional colony can promote genetic diversity through sharing of secreted factors and may drive evolution of mutualistic behavior.","journal":"eLife","year":2021,"id":173201,"datarank":0.86167277304028,"base_score":3.2188758248682006,"endowment":3.2188758248682006,"self_citation_contribution":0.48283137373023016,"citation_network_contribution":0.3788413993100498,"self_endowment_contribution":0.48283137373023016,"citer_contribution":0.3788413993100498,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":24,"citer_count":17,"citers_with_citation_signal":15,"citers_with_endowment":15,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9618,"is_data_producer":true,"deposit_databanks":{"Dryad":["10.5061/dryad.79cnp5htm"]},"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2021-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":310233,"name":"Lisa Willis","orcid":"0000-0003-0568-1442","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":584833,"name":"Haiwen Gui","orcid":"0000-0003-0564-940X","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":572061,"name":"Yangbo Xiao","orcid":null,"position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":259592,"name":"Jason M. Peters","orcid":"0000-0003-2722-8382","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":259595,"name":"Carol A. Gross","orcid":"0000-0002-5595-9732","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":74113,"name":"Kerwyn Casey Huang","orcid":"0000-0002-8043-8138","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":310231,"name":"Heidi A. Arjes","orcid":"0000-0002-4708-4286","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":52,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-18T23:46:45.768135Z","pmid":"33594973","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}