GOALI: A New Strategy for Biofouling Control of Water Filtration Membranes Using D-amino Acids

GOALI：使用 D-氨基酸控制水过滤膜生物污垢的新策略

• 批准号: 1134427
• 负责人: Qilin Li
• 金额: $ 35万
• 依托单位: William Marsh Rice University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-01-01 至 2015-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1134427&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: GOALI; New; Strategy; Biofouling; Control

PI: Qilin LiProposal Number: 1134427Biofouling remains the biggest barrier to application of membrane technology in water and wastewater treatment despite intensive research in the past decades. Inspired by the recent discovery that D-amino acids (D-AAs) commonly produced by bacteria can trigger bioiflm disassembly at very low concentrations, the researchers propose a university-industry collaborative project to develop a novel, highly effective and environmentally friendly approach to biofouling control in membrane systems using D-AAs. The main objective of the proposed research is to assess the potential of and develop strategies for using D-AAs to control biofouling in wastewater treatment membrane systems. Their central hypothesis is that D-AAs are common interspecies signal compounds used by different bacteria to mediate biofilm disassembly; careful manipulation of this regulation process can prevent biofilmformation and remove preformed biofilms. The long term goal of our collaboration is to develop and commercialize a highly effective, environmentally benign membrane cleaning method for biofouling control in membrane bioreactors (MBR) and reverse osmosis (RO) systems. They will first screen all 19 D-AAs individually and in combinations for their individual and synergistic effects on biofilm-formation and disassembly of model bacterial single cultures as well as mixed cultures from conventional activated sludge and MBR. Using well characterized model bactedria, they will investigate the key mechanisms involved by probing bacterial responses to D-AAs in cell growth, peptidoglycan synthesis, surface proteins and lipopolysaccharides, and relating them to cell-cell and cellsurface adhesion as well as biofilm structural integrity. The potential of bacteria developing resistance over long term exposure will also be investigated and corresponding mitigation strategies evaluated. Information obtained from these fundamental researches will be used to develop practical biofouling control strategies, which will be tested in laboratory membrane units, a small scale MBR-RO system, and a pilot MBR system.The proposed study explores a new paradigm of membrane biofouling control based on a recent scientific discovery. It will determine the commonality in bacteria?s use of D-AAs as interspecies signals for biofilm mediation and provide a mechanistic understanding of the process at the cellular level. This will not only advance our knowledge in biofilm formation and regulation, but also open a window of opportunity for developing biofouling control strategies utilizing this specific signal pathway. It is the first study to systematically examine all 19 D-AAs, the first to assess the impact of DAAs on multi-species biofilms, the first to investigate the connection between D-AA induced cell physiological changes and biofilms formation/ disassembly, and the first to seek engineering application of this new science. Industry participation makes it possible to test the biofouling control methods using realistic conditions and at pilot scale, facilitating industry application of the scientific research.From the fundamental aspect, the project contributes to our understanding of chemicalsignal pathways used by bacteria to regulate biofilms, which has great impact on many scientific fields including microbiology, biochemistry, environmental, biomedical, and chemical engineering. From the application point of view, D-AA or D-AA analogue based biofilm control strategies could be used in a large number of environmental, biomedical and industrial systems, e.g., sensors, medical implants, water/wastewater treatment and distribution systems, cooling towers and food processing equipment, to prevent detrimental impact of biofilms. The university-industry collaboration provides a much needed bridge from fundamental research to technology development and implementation. The education and research activities proposed will enrich our undergraduate and graduate curricula through a new lab module and guest lectures, and provide research training to graduate and undergraduate students with special effort in recruiting women and minority students. Students will be involved in industry R&D to take the state-of-the-art academic research directly to industrial technology development, work closely with practitioners on real engineering systems, and learn effective communication across disciplines. The PI and the industry co-PI will also jointly provide educational experiences to high school teachers and environmental engineers.

主要研究者： 李齐霖提案编号： 1134427尽管在过去几十年中进行了深入的研究，但生物污垢仍然是膜技术在水和废水处理中应用的最大障碍。 受最近发现细菌通常产生的D-氨基酸（D-AAs）可以在非常低的浓度下触发生物膜分解的启发，研究人员提出了一个大学-工业合作项目，以开发一种新型，高效和环保的方法来控制膜系统中的生物污染。 拟议的研究的主要目标是评估的潜力，并制定战略，使用D-AAs来控制生物污染的废水处理膜系统。 他们的中心假设是，D-AA是不同细菌用于介导生物膜分解的常见种间信号化合物;仔细操纵这一调节过程可以防止生物膜形成并去除预先形成的生物膜。 我们合作的长期目标是开发和商业化一种高效、环保的膜清洗方法，用于膜生物反应器（MBR）和反渗透（RO）系统中的生物污染控制。他们将首先筛选所有19种D-AA单独和组合对模型细菌单一培养物以及传统活性污泥和MBR混合培养物的生物膜形成和分解的单独和协同作用。 使用充分表征的模型bactedria，他们将通过探测细菌对细胞生长，肽聚糖合成，表面蛋白和脂多糖中的D-AA的反应来研究所涉及的关键机制，并将其与细胞-细胞和细胞表面粘附以及生物膜结构完整性联系起来。 还将调查细菌在长期接触中产生耐药性的可能性，并评估相应的缓解策略。 从这些基础研究中获得的信息将被用来开发实用的生物污染控制策略，这将在实验室膜单元，小规模的MBR-RO系统，和一个试点MBR system.The拟议的研究探索了一个新的范式膜生物污染控制的基础上，最近的科学发现。 它将决定细菌的共性？的使用D-AA作为种间信号的生物膜调解，并提供了一个机制的理解，在细胞水平上的过程。 这不仅将推进我们在生物膜形成和调节方面的知识，而且还为利用这种特定信号途径开发生物污损控制策略打开了机会之窗。 这是第一个系统地研究所有19种D-AA的研究，第一个评估DAA对多物种生物膜的影响，第一个研究D-AA诱导的细胞生理变化与生物膜形成/分解之间的联系，第一个寻求这一新科学的工程应用。 该项目的开展，使生物膜污染控制方法在实际条件下和中试规模上得到验证，促进了科学研究的工业应用，从基础方面加深了对细菌调控生物膜的化学信号通路的认识，对微生物学、生物化学、环境、生物医学、化学工程等多个科学领域产生了重要影响。 从应用的角度来看，基于D-AA或D-AA类似物的生物膜控制策略可用于大量的环境、生物医学和工业系统，例如，传感器、医疗植入物、水/废水处理和分配系统、冷却塔和食品加工设备，以防止生物膜的有害影响。 大学与工业界的合作提供了一个从基础研究到技术开发和实施的迫切需要的桥梁。拟议的教育和研究活动将通过新的实验室单元和客座讲座丰富我们的本科生和研究生课程，并为研究生和本科生提供研究培训，特别努力招收妇女和少数民族学生。 学生将参与行业研发，将最先进的学术研究直接用于工业技术开发，与真实的工程系统的从业者密切合作，并学习跨学科的有效沟通。PI和行业合作PI还将共同为高中教师和环境工程师提供教育经验。