Invited Paper MB+BI-MoM8
Investigation of Early Marine Biofouling Events on Model Organic and Polymeric Surfaces

Monday, October 18, 2010, 10:40 am, Room Navajo

Marine biofouling -the accumulation of unwanted biomass on solid structures- is of major concern to maritime pursuits. Biofouling can not only decrease performance of deployed marine equipment, such as ships or oil rigs, but can also result in the transport of invasive species between ports of call. The problem of biofouling is at first a problem of microbial interaction with the water-solid interface; bacteria and diatoms themselves can form detrimental biofilms and can further enable the settlement of macrofoulers. This talk will present studies that seek to shed light on underlying chemical factors that lead to the initial attachment of metabolically homogenous populations of model marine bacterial populations to well-defined organic and polymeric surfaces. It will also present studies of the use of stimuli-responsive surfaces to allow release of attached marine biofilms.