| Pacific Rim Symposium on Surfaces, Coatings and Interfaces (PacSurf 2014) | |
| Biomaterial Interfaces | Monday Sessions |
| Session BI-MoE |
| Session: | Biofouling |
| Presenter: | Cynthia Whitchurch, The ithree institute, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Many species of bacteria produce extracellular “slimes” comprised of polysaccharides or DNA that provide several advantageous functions to the bacterium including protection from environmental stresses that include physical (e.g. dehydration, osmotic pressure), chemical (e.g. disinfectants, antibiotics, pH) and biological (e.g. mammalian immune system) challenges. A hall-mark feature of bacterial biofilms is the self-produced extracellular slime that provides intercellular connectivity and mediates attachment of cells and biofilms to abiotic and biotic surfaces. Slimes also participate in bacterial surface motilities that mediate the active expansion of bacterial biofilm communities.
Over the past decade, slime comprised of extracellular DNA (eDNA) has been found to be essential for biofilm formation by many species of bacteriawhere it is thought to function as an intercellular “glue” that binds cells together in mature biofilms. Interestingly, eDNA is also essential during the early stages of biofilm development by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, however, the precise roles of eDNA in this process have yet to be elucidated. Many species of bacteria, including P. aeruginosa, utilize twitching motility to actively translocate across solid and semi-solid surfaces. Twitching motility can manifest as a complex, multicellular behaviour that enables the active expansion of bacterial biofilms. We have used advanced techniques in microscopy, computer vision and image informatics to explore the roles of eDNA during early biofilm development and active biofilm expansion by P.aeruginosa.