Center for Biofilm Engineering
News Update:
October 31, 2000
Volume 3, Issue 10
Research Highlights
Paper Spotlight
Environmental and Genetic Factors Influencing Biofilm Structure
This paper discusses some of the environmental and biological factors that influence biofilm structure. Earlier biofilm work focused primarily on the external physical and chemical environment of the biofilm which were dictated largely by the fluid shear and the local mass transfer rates. However, more recent work, incorporating a more molecular experimental approach, suggests that biofilm structure may not be passively determined by the physical-chemical environment, but be more actively controlled by the biofilm cells themselves, at the genetic level. The two areas that have so far received the most attention are cell-cell signaling and the role of twitching motility in the formation of biofilm structures. In this paper we examine evidence which demonstrates that both environment and genotype can play a role in biofilm development and behavior. It is obvious that at the extremes the physical and chemical environment will dictate whether a biofilm will form or not, but it is not so clear how the environmental conditions determine which factors will dominate in the many niches found on Earth. Shear is one environmental condition studied that appears to be of fundamental significance to biofilm structure. It is only by the study of both the environmental and genetic influences on biofilm development that researchers will be able to begin to piece together how biofilms behave in the real world, outside of the laboratory.
Stoodley, P., Hall-Stoodley, L., Boyle, J.D., Jørgensen, F. and Lappin-Scott, H.M. 2000. Environmental and genetic factors influencing biofilm structure. In Community Structure and Cooperation in Biofilms. pp. 53-64. (eds. D. Allison, P. Gilbert, H.M. Lappin-Scott and M. Wilson). SGM Symposium Series 59. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Media Highlights
BiofilmsOnline.com
BiofilmsOnline.com is now (really!) published on the web, at http://www.BiofilmsOnline.com. A wealth of information about microbial biofilms can be found at the website, providing an excellent resource for regulatory decision makers, researchers, technology developers, practitioners, science teachers, and students. On the current site under News, readers will find press releases about biofilms and biofilm related topics, journal references, media references (books and video), biofilm patents, and conference announcements and programs. Future plans for the site include Views with content such as editorials and letters, moderated debate forums, topic columns, and feature articles. Also a Reports section will include a variety of peer-reviewed, high-quality technical information to focus on the applied nature of solving problems related to microbial biofilms, and will include papers primarily submitted by authors at large.
A New Book about Biofilms
Biofilms: Recent Advances in Their Study and Control
Edited by L.V. Evans
Harwood Academic Publishers 2000
ISBN: 90-5823-093-7
Several CBE researchers and collaborators contributed chapters to this book.
From the book jacket "This volume, with contributions by international experts from widely diverse areas of this field, presents a state-of-the-art picture of where we are at present in terms of our knowledge of biofilms, the techniques being used to study them, and possible strategies for controlling their growth more successfully. It should provide a valuable reference source for information on biofilms and their control for many years to come."
Education
Microbes and the Environment
The Center has introduced a new undergraduate class this fall, called "Microbes and the Environment." Instructors are Dr. Al Cunningham, Dr. Anne Camper, Darla Goeres, and John Neuman. The goal of the class is to provide students with relevant examples of how microbes and environmental issues influence every day life, and to help students become more proficient in understanding scientific thought processes. Topic areas are covered either by a lecture, laboratory work, class project or demonstration and field trips when possible. Whenever possible, experts in the field contribute to the class.
Topics included are:
Microbes and their processes in the environment
What is a microorganism?
Basic laboratory skills, protocol, and safety
Swimming pools and spas
Drinking water and microbes
Microbes in pollution control in soils (bioremediation)
Brewing
Biotechnology
What do disinfectant and product claims mean?
Wastewater treatment
Ethics in science and engineering
Low tech options for rural wastewater treatment
Microbes in space
Microbes and medicine
CBE People in Action
Dr. J.W. Costerton presented "Biofilms on Medical Devices," University of Montana, Missoula, MT, October 4, 2000.
Dr. J.W. Costerton as keynote speaker presented "Bacterial Biofilms in Nature and Disease," Lawson Research Institute, London, Ontario, Canada, October 11-12, 2000.
Dr. J.W. Costerton as guest speaker presented "Ecology and Morphology of Biofilms," at the Conference on New Paradigms in Infectious Disease, Pittsburgh, PA, October 13-15, 2000.
Dr. Phil Stewart presented "The Center for Biofilm Engineering" at a session on NSF Engineering Research Centers at the Biomedical Engineering Society meeting in Seattle, Washington, October 14, 2000.
Dr. J.W. Costerton as guest speaker presented "Dialysis Catheter Biofilms," at the American Society of Nephrology's 33rd Annual Scientific Meeting, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, October 16, 2000.
Dr. J.W. Costerton as guest speaker presented "Microbial Biofilms Predominate in Natural Ecosystems" at the International Workshop of New Perspectives on Aquatic Microbial Ecology, Universidad de Antofagasta, Antofagasta City, Chile, October 17-21, 2000.
Dr. J.W. Costerton as guest speaker presented "Biofilms in Dental Microbiology," for the Kreshover Lecture Series at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, October 23, 2000.
Dr. Gill Geesey was a conference organizer of the Metal-Microbe Interactions Workshop, Warrenton, VA, October 11-13, 2000.
[correction, this workshop was canceled] Dr. Gill Geesey presented "MIC Detection, Mitigation and Prevention" at the Workshop in Biological Fouling and MIC, Altran Corporation, Boston, MA, October 26-27, 2000.
Theses
See theses abstracts at
<http://www.erc.montana.edu/Res-Lib99-SW/pubs/Theses/2000/default.htm>
Web Watch
Check our Recent Web Updates page created to make it easy for you to locate new information on the CBE web. See http://www.erc.montana.edu/Recent%20Web%20Updates/default.htm
Upcoming CBE Events & Other Upcoming Workshops and Meetings
http://www.erc.montana.edu/whats_new/index.htm
Newsletter Listserve
The CBE News Update is a listserve newsletter. If you need to subscribe or unsubscribe from the listserve, follow the directions at the following CBE website.
http://www.erc.montana.edu/Res-Lib99-SW/newsarchives/subscribe.htm
An alternative to subscribing to the listserve is to view the CBE News Update on our web page at http://www.erc.montana.edu/Ind-Col99-SW/Current_Newsletter/default.htm. Newsletter archives can be found at http://www.erc.montana.edu/Res-Lib99-SW/newsarchives/index.htm.
Diane Williams editor of the CBE News Update
