Understanding bacterial biofilms
3 mins read

Understanding bacterial biofilms


Feb 22, 2022

(Nanowerk Information) Biofilms are a ubiquitous, resilient type of microbial life. They’ll type the place liquids and solids meet, like round a knee alternative; the place air and liquid meet, like within the lungs; and the place oil and water meet, like in an oil spill on the ocean. Due to this excessive versatility, the mechanism of how they develop and adapt to totally different environments is just not but properly understood. However a greater grasp of how biofilms can develop and adapt to totally different environments wouldn’t solely assist mitigate their deleterious well being results but in addition put them to work for us. Tagbo Niepa, assistant professor of chemical and petroleum engineering on the College of Pittsburgh Swanson Faculty of Engineering, not too long ago acquired a College Early Profession Improvement (CAREER) Award from the Nationwide Science Basis for this work. The $663,372, five-year funding will allow his lab to additional discover how micro organism address adjustments in floor rigidity and vitality, in addition to their adaptation to altering circumstances to develop new supplies. The analysis additionally seeks to grasp how viruses and nanomaterials might be used to manage bacterial improvement at fluid interfaces. An illustration of a bacterial biofilm An illustration of a bacterial biofilm. (Picture: ART-ur/Shutterstock) “When biofilms type on solid-liquid interfaces, they will trigger well being issues like infections close to joint implants, and once they type at air-liquid interfaces, they will trigger lung issues,” defined Niepa. “However their resilience may also be harnessed to develop simpler therapies for crude oil spills, for instance, utilizing micro organism.” Niepa’s earlier work (“Materials properties of interfacial movies of mucoid and nonmucoid Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates”) has proven that sure micro organism secrete a protecting movie that enables them to thrive in harsh circumstances and stick collectively, a lot in the identical method that sushi rice is ready to stick collectively whereas basmati rice is just not. A current paper printed in ACS Utilized Bio Supplies (“Mucoid Coating Supplies a Progress Benefit to Pseudomonas aeruginosa at Oil–Water Interfaces”) seems at totally different strains of the micro organism Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which regularly colonizes the lungs of cystic fibrosis sufferers. The analysis reveals that the microbes with the flexibility to type a mucoid movie have a stronger resistance to environmental stress, making them extra resilient. The CAREER Award will enable Niepa to additional discover totally different microbes’ capacity to metabolize a patch of interface and secrete a protecting coating. “The physicochemical mechanisms behind microbial progress in biofilms continues to be not totally understood, partially as a result of their capacity to reply to various environmental circumstances is extraordinarily versatile. And we perceive biofilm formation on the fluid interface even much less,” mentioned Niepa. “A greater comprehension of those interfacial phenomena related to microorganisms will finally be related for a broad vary of functions.” As well as, the award will even enable Niepa to interact under-represented minority, first-generation and financially challenged pre-college and faculty college students via a spread of mentored experiences, together with a “Bugs as Supplies” Camp, a school utility workshop, and a world summer season expertise for undergraduates.



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