Bacteria at interfaces: dissecting the mechanisms of bacteria attachment and growth on surfaces

• Applicant: Dr.-Ing. Lars David Renner
• Subject Area: Biological and Biomimetic Chemistry
• Term: from 2010 to 2012
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 162634072

The research proposal focuses on fundamental questions of bacterial adhesion, behaviour, and physiology: specifically, how bacteria sense, and respond to surfaces, and more broadly, to their physical extracellular environment. The mechanisms that underlie interfacial phenomena of bacteria—for example, adhesion, swarming motility (cooperative movement of communities on surfaces), and biofilm formation—are poorly understood. To study these phenomena, I propose to combine techniques of surface engineering and material science with microbiology and genetics. The successful merger of these areas will create new possibilities for studying bacterial cell interactions and their response to their environment. Specifically, I will explore the physical interactions and stimuli that control bacterial adhesion, differentiation, and motility of communities of cells on polymer surfaces. By integrating biological techniques to determine the transcriptional and biochemical pathways that are involved in this response, it will be possible to determine the changes in physiology and genomics that play a role in the response of bacteria to their microenvironment—that is, the region surrounding a cell that is defined by diffusion, mass transport, and molecular contact. A mechanistic understanding of the stimuli and parameters that play a role in bacteria sensing surfaces, interfaces, and other cells in communities will provide innovative strategies to control bacteria-surface interactions and new methods and materials for the management and prevention of infections and biofilm formation.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: USA
• Host: Professor Douglas B. Weibel