Molecular Forces in Microbial Biofilms

NSERC的这项发现拨款提案寻求发现稳定各种表面上微生物生物膜形成的分子作用力的潜在机制。微生物生物膜在加拿大几个部门(如食品安全、农业、工业和石油管道、船体涂层等)的大多数主要污染问题中发挥着核心作用，估计每年花费数十亿美元。这种与生物膜相关的问题日益严重的一个关键原因是我们对细菌附着在广泛表面的机制了解有限，以及负责稳定这些生物膜的力量背后的分子理解不足。由于细菌在表面的初始黏附和微菌落形成是成熟生物膜的关键先决条件，本研究计划将针对生物膜形成的初始阶段，并将重点放在在生物膜发展的这些关键阶段赋予生物膜稳定性的“分子作用力”。特别是，它的目的是剖析细菌表面黏附分子和底层底物性质之间的纳米级相互作用，初步解决底物硬度对细菌生长的影响。

This NSERC discovery grant proposal seeks to discover mechanisms underlying the molecular forces that stabilize microbial biofilm formation on a wide variety of surfaces. Microbial biofilms play a central role in most major fouling problems in several sectors in Canada (e.g. food safety, agriculture, industrial and oil pipelines, ship hull coatings etc.), and is estimated to cost billions of dollars annually. A key reason behind this growing biofilm-related problems is our limited understanding of the mechanisms by which bacteria adhere to a wide range of surfaces, and the lack of molecular understanding behind the forces responsible for stabilizing these biofilms. As initial adhesion and microcolony formation of bacteria on surfaces are crucial pre-requisites for mature biofilms, this research program will target the initial stages of biofilm formation, and will focus on the “molecular forces” that confer biofilm stability during these critical phases of biofilm development. In particular, it aims to dissect the nanoscopic interplay between bacteria’s surface adhesion molecules and the properties of the underlying substrate, initially addressing the influence of substrate stiffness on the growth of