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The spreading of bacterial colonies at solid-air interfaces is determined bythe physico-chemical properties of the involved interfaces. The production ofsurfactant molecules by bacteria is a widespread strategy that allows thecolony to efficiently expand over the substrate. On the one hand, surfactantmolecules lower the surface tension of the colony, effectively increasing thewettability of the substrate, which facilitates spreading. On the other hand,gradients in the surface concentration of surfactant molecules result inMarangoni flows that drive spreading. These flows may cause an instability ofthe circular colony shape and the subsequent formation of fingers. In thiswork, we study the effect of bacterial surfactant production and substratewettability on colony growth and shape within the framework of a hydrodynamicthin film model. We show that variations in the wettability and surfactantproduction are sufficient to reproduce four different types of colony growth,which have been described in the literature, namely, arrested and continuousspreading of circular colonies, slightly modulated front lines and theformation of pronounced fingers.

Modelling of surfactant-driven front instabilities in spreading bacterial colonies