ChEBE Faculty Research
Nehal Abu-Lail, Ph.D.
Fundamental Understanding of Bacterial Adhesion at the Molecular Level
This project is aimed at the characterization of surfaces of pathogenic and non-pathogenic microorganisms, at the single-molecule level. Bacterial adhesion is governed by the microbial surface properties, the surface at which the microbe is adhering to, and the environmental conditions. For example, when the ionic strength of the media was increased from that of water to 0.5 M KCl, the adhesion of Pseudomonas putida KT2442 to a model surface of silicon nitride significantly increased.
A focus on the fundamental effect of individual factors on bacterial adhesion will allow for a better control of the bacterial adhesion phenomenon. The following selected factors are of primary interest for us to investigate:
- 1.1 The effect of bacterial surface biopolymers charge on adhesion.
- 1.2 The effect of bacterial surface composition on adhesion.
- 1.3 The effect of substrate roughness on adhesion.