CAREER: Patterned Biofilm Formation by Surface Design: Linking Structure to Physiology and Genetics

这个教师早期职业发展（CAREER）计划奖的目的是获得深入的，机械的细菌粘附到表面的理解，随后形成无柄多细胞结构（称为生物膜），并在遗传水平上发展相关的耐药性。 这将通过使用表面设计方法来减少生物膜中的结构异质性来实现，这是生物膜研究中的一个重要挑战。 在最近的研究中，使用具有化学和地形图案的明确定义的表面，PI的团队获得了一些关于生物膜形成的关键信息，这些信息是使用传统的非受控表面无法获得的。 基于这些结果，大肠杆菌和铜绿假单胞菌将被用作本项目中的代表性细菌物种，以将生物膜结构与基因功能和生物膜生理学相关联。 特别是，细胞簇之间的相互作用和水平基因转移图案生物膜将在三维和真实的时间进行研究。 作为对研究目标的补充，该CAREER项目的教育目标是通过综合教育和推广活动扩大参与并提高学生在大学工程教育中的保留率。有害的生物膜会导致严重的问题，如人类的慢性感染和工业环境中的持续生物污染。 除了对生物膜形成和水平基因转移的基本理解外，这项研究的发现还将提高细菌生理学的一般知识，并有助于开发控制细菌生物膜形成和耐药性的有效方法。 因此，该项目将对基础科学、经济、生物安全和保健产生广泛影响。 除了科学和技术方面，该项目还将通过让K12教师和学生以及当地工业参与教育和推广活动来改善工程教育。 将建立一个网站，向广大受众传播该项目的研究、教学和外联活动成果。

The objective of this Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program award is to obtain an in-depth, mechanistic understanding of bacterial adhesion to surfaces, the subsequent formation of sessile multicellular structures (known as biofilms), and the development of associated drug resistance at the genetic level. It will be achieved by using surface design methods to reduce the structural heterogeneity in biofilms, an important challenge in biofilm research. During recent studies using well-defined surfaces with chemical and topographic patterns, the PI's team obtained some critical information about biofilm formation that could not be obtained using conventional uncontrolled surfaces. Based on these results, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa will be used as representative bacterial species in this project to correlate biofilm structure with gene functions and biofilm physiology. Particularly, interactions among cell clusters and horizontal gene transfer in patterned biofilms will be investigated in three dimensions and in real time. Complementary to the research goal, the educational objective of this CAREER project is to broaden participation and to improve student retention in college engineering education through integrated educational and outreach activities.Deleterious biofilms cause serious problems such as chronic infections in humans and persistent biofouling in industrial settings. In addition to fundamental understanding of biofilm formation and horizontal gene transfer, the findings from this study will also improve the general knowledge of bacterial physiology and help develop effective methods to control bacterial biofilm formation and drug resistance. Thus, this project will have broad impacts on basic science, economy, biosecurity and health care. Beyond the scientific and technical aspects, this project will also improve engineering education by involving K12 teachers and students as well as local industry in educational and outreach activities. A website will be constructed to disseminate the outcome of research, teaching, and outreach activities from this project to a broad audience.