Bacteria use surfaces to form complex heterogeneous communities known as biofilms. Within a group, bacteria in a biofilm are extremely resistant to different environmental influences. How these biofilms develop is the subject of a new international research project at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU). The German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Israel Science Foundation (ISF) are supporting the co-operation with around 750,000 euros over three years.
Biofilms are omnipresent
Bacterial biofilms are ubiquitous and play a crucial role in many areas of our lives: we brush them off our teeth, they help with digestion in the gut, but can also cause deadly hospital infections or major problems in industry such as blocked oil pipelines or slowed down cruise ships.
One of the most important characteristics of a biofilm is the so-called extracellular matrix (ECM). This is secreted by the accumulating bacteria to envelop the community of bacterial cells and bind them into a single unit. Despite decades of research, it is still not fully understood how such a matrix is formed. The interdisciplinary team led by Prof. Dr Vasily Zaburdaev, Chair of Mathematics in the Life Sciences at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg and Max Planck Centre for Physics and Medicine, Erlangen, Prof. Dr Liraz Chai, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Dr Thomas Pfohl, University of Freiburg, would like to change this.
Focus on mechanical, physical and chemical mechanisms
In this project, the team will use their expertise in bio-microfluidics, bacterial ECM mechanobiology and biochemistry in combination with theoretical modelling to decipher the chronology and microscopic mechanisms of bacterial ECM formation. Overall, this project will uncover the previously unknown mechano-physico-chemical mechanisms that lead to the formation of the ECM – the key unifying component of bacterial biofilms – and thus provide new insights into their physiology.
Further information:
Prof. Dr Vasily Zaburdaev
Chair of Mathematics in the Life Sciences
Phone: +49 9131 8284102
vasily.zaburdaev@fau.de
Source: FAU (in German)