Fur Anti-Fouling via Physiological Mechanisms

经常被水覆盖的管道、树木或石头等表面极易受到细菌大量生长的影响。尽管细菌几乎生长在水中经常出现的所有东西上，但生活在池塘、河流、小溪和海洋中及其周围的毛茸茸的哺乳动物的皮毛上并没有厚厚的细菌膜。当细菌干扰人造系统的功能时，细菌的广泛生长会导致“生物污垢”。 生物结垢的后果是主要关注的，因为它们包括降低的流体动力学效率、降低的浮力、表面腐蚀、流动阻塞和污染。定殖于表面的第一细菌形成“引发表面”，在该表面上大规模污垢（例如，藻类和藤壶）可以聚集。本研究的目标是发现保持毛皮无污垢的机制组合。这项研究将解决毛皮在哺乳动物生存中通常被忽视的功能，即抵抗生物污染的能力，从而阐明其在绝缘之外的作用。这项研究的一个潜在成果将是发现防止表面细菌生长的新机制，这将通过显着减少对暴露于水的结构的表面维护的需求来促进美国的经济目标。这项工作将丰富PI和Co-PI提供的研究生和本科生课程。该项目团队将创建一个教育网站，“毛茸茸的故事，”提供一个平台，为K-12推广有关这项工作。重点是通过中央佛罗里达大学多样性和包容性办公室为少数民族学生和具有不同背景的学生提供研究机会。这项研究的智力价值是通过考虑其在各种长度尺度上的特性，从单个毛囊纹理和弯曲特性，到阵列形态和聚合纹理，来表征毛皮对生物污损的抵抗力。毛皮的防污机制的特点是使用代表毛皮从半水生和陆生哺乳动物：北美海狸，河獭，海獭，驯鹿。通过将这些毛皮暴露于三种常见的主要污垢细菌，将测量和比较生物膜形成、持久性和破坏。浸入含有增殖细菌的液体培养物中的单根毛发将暴露（1）纤维表面拓扑结构和（2）变形性对微生物附着的可能影响。天然排列的生皮将（3）证明纤维与纤维接触的有效性，以阻止细菌增殖并实现自清洁。最后，（4）毛皮的天然油脂可能会影响污垢附着力，这将通过比较未处理纤维上的生物膜形成与天然表面活性剂清洁的纤维上的生物膜形成来测试。这四个实验将揭示毛皮的哪些物理机制主要有助于清洁。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Surfaces such as those of pipes, trees or stones that are frequently covered in water are highly vulnerable to the growth of extensive films of bacteria. Even though bacteria grow on almost everything that is frequently in the water, furry mammals who live in and around the water of ponds rivers, streams and the ocean do not suffer from thick bacterial films on their fur. Extensive growth of bacteria causes "biofouling," when the bacteria interfere with the function of a man-made system. The consequences of biofouling are of major concern as they include reduced hydrodynamic efficiency, reduced buoyancy, surface corrosion, flow blockage and contamination. The first bacteria that colonize a surface make a "primed surface" on which macroscale foulers (e.g., algae and barnacles) can congregate. It is the goal of this research to discover the combination of mechanisms that keep fur fouler-free. The study will address the commonly overlooked function of fur in mammalian survival, its ability to resist biofouling, thereby illuminating its role beyond insulation. A potential outcome of this research will be the discovery of new mechanisms to prevent to growth of bacteria on surfaces, which will further the economic goals of the United States by significantly reducing the need for surface maintenance for structures exposed to water. This work will enrich graduate and undergraduate curricula offered by the PI and Co-PIs. The project team will create an educational website, 'Hairy Tales,' to provide a platform for K-12 outreach related to this work. Focus will be given to providing research opportunities to minority students and students with diverse backgrounds via the University of Central Florida Office of Diversity and Inclusion.The intellectual merit of this research is the characterization of fur's resistance to biofouling by the consideration of its properties at various length scales, ranging from individual follicle texture and bending properties, to array morphology and aggregate texture. Fur's anti-fouling mechanisms will be characterized using representative furs from semi-aquatic and terrestrial mammals: North American beaver, river otter, sea otter, and caribou. By exposing these furs to three bacterial species that are common primary foulers, biofilm formation, persistence, and disruption will be measured and compared. Singular hairs submerged into liquid cultures containing proliferating bacteria will expose the possible effect of (1) fiber surface topology and (2) deformability on microbial attachment. Naturally arranged hides will (3) demonstrate the effectiveness of fiber-to-fiber contact to stunt bacterial proliferation and enable self-cleaning. Finally, (4) a fur's natural oils could impact fouler adhesion, which will be tested by comparing biofilm formation on untreated fibers to those cleaned of natural surfactants. These four experiments will unravel which physical mechanisms of fur predominately contribute to cleanliness.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.