Seeing is believing, observing bacterial biofilm formation in vivo

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Most bacteria grow as biofilms in their natural environment. This is particularlyimportant for pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus, which is notorious forgrowing on implants such as joint replacements. Such biofilms are extremelydifficult to treat with antibiotics and often means the implant needs to beremoved. The project will bring together state-of-the-art imaging approaches todetermine how biofilms are made during an infection. The zebrafish embryomodel of S. aureus pathogenesis is unique to Sheffield and offers a window ondisease, as the embryos are transparent. The project will visualise biofilmformation in vivo using a combination of fluorescent labelling of bacteria andreal-time microscopy to determine components important in biofilm formationand how they are expressed. The action of antimicrobial interventions will bevisualised in vivo using the zebrafish model. The experiments will be used toinform approaches for understanding and controlling biofilm formation inmammals by such an important antimicrobial resistant pathogen as S. aureus