A sticky situation: confronting the challenges of bacterial surface adhesion (360G-Wellcome-211855_Z_18_Z)

Certain bacterial species can colonise to form biofilms- large structures which protect bacteria from physical and chemical removal e.g. antibiotics. If adhered to biomedical implants, bacteria can cause repeated infections which couldn't be treated by antibiotics and therefore would lead to the removal of the implant. In some patients, this would result in repeated invasive surgery. Our interest is in crystalline biofilms which can block urinary catheters and cause catheter-associated urinary-tract-infections (CAUTI). The main bacterium causing CAUTI is E. Coli in which E. Niba et al. (2008) isolated 110 genes involved in the formation of biofilms. Mutations in key genes will be created using Lambda red recombination which is a highly efficient and well established method for creating precise gene deletions. Deletions will be confirmed using PCR and sequencing. The deletion mutants will be analysed for biofilm formation using a bioflux system which generates shear force by continuous flow of liquid. This is an open system ensuring nutrients are available and thereby favouring biofilm formation. Both pathotypes and their respective mutants will be tested for the capacity to form biofilms at a range of temperatures. Data from the above experiments will be quantified using ImageJ software.