Resistance is not futile: Uncovering the reasons why bacterial biofilms can withstand antimicrobial treatments

生物膜是由黏液覆盖的微生物群落，它们彼此粘在一起，并附着在表面上。这种普遍存在的微生物生命形式导致了与自然科学和工程有关的各种问题，从兽医和植物疾病到水系统和油田管道的污染。生物膜引起了微生物学家的注意，因为它们比浮游的单细胞生物膜更不容易受到抗菌治疗的影响。由于生物膜在农业和工业中引起了大量的问题，因此我们必须更好地了解是什么使生物膜耐受抗菌剂的致命作用。这项拟议研究的目的是促进我们对使生物膜耐受抗菌剂的遗传途径和细胞信号机制的理解。这项研究利用非致病性的实验室大肠杆菌来应对这一研究挑战。大肠杆菌可以很容易地以低廉的价格种植，是研究最广泛的自由生命有机体。对大肠杆菌的研究几乎涵盖了基础微生物学和应用微生物学的所有领域。拟议的研究努力将推进细菌生理学的基础知识，为区分生物膜和浮游细胞的新陈代谢提供见解。此外，迫切需要设计出针对生物膜的新型抗菌剂。这项研究不仅将提供对生物膜耐药机制的深入了解，还将确定可能选择性地作为干扰目标的生物膜细胞的部分。

Biofilms are slime-covered communities of microorganisms that stick to each other and to surfaces. This prevalent form of microbial life causes a variety of problems pertinent to the natural sciences and engineering, ranging from veterinary and plant diseases to fouling of water systems and oilfield pipelines. Biofilms have caught the eyes of microbiologists because they are much less susceptible to antimicrobial treatments than their planktonic, single-celled counterparts. Because biofilms cause a huge number of issues in agriculture and industry, it is vital that we better understand what allows biofilms to endure the lethal action of antimicrobials. The aim of the proposed research is to advance our understanding of the genetic pathways and cellular signaling mechanisms that allow biofilms to withstand antimicrobial agents. This research utilizes non-pathogenic, laboratory Escherichia coli to tackle this research challenge. E. coli can be grown easily and inexpensively and is the most widely studied, free-living organism. Work with E. coli informs nearly all areas of basic and applied microbiology. The proposed research endeavors will advance a fundamental knowledge of bacterial physiology, providing insights into the metabolism that differentiates biofilms from planktonic cells. Also, there is a pressing need to engineer new antimicrobials that target biofilms. Not, only will this research provide a deep understanding of biofilm resistance mechanisms, but it will identify parts of biofilm cells that might be selectively targeted for disruption.