Short introduction to Postdoc project

Bacterial signalling in biofilms on artificial model surfaces and in the plant rhizosphere

In the past few years, biofilms have become accepted as being the predominant natural life form for most bacteria. Life in a biofilm affords various advantages, for example an increased resistance to environmental stresses, antimicrobial tolerance, protection from protozoan predation, high population densities and microbial interactions. Biofilm development and the resulting interactions with eukaryotic host organisms require cell-cell communication between colonizing bacteria. Thus, biofilms are often the site for quorum sensing. Bacterial communication through quorum sensing using small chemical signal molecules like N-acylhomoserine lactones (AHL) enables bacterial populations to regulate their gene expression and to coordinate their behavior. In this study, biofilm forming bacteria will be localized in model and plant related biofilms using gfp-tagging and confocal laser scanning microscopy. The AHL-production in biofilms should be investigated with the help of AHL bioreporter strains, AHL-targeted antibodies (together with the Institute of Ecological Chemistry (IÖC)) and chemical analyses (together with the IÖC). Different experiments will be planned in consideration of factors that influence the population structure and the activities of bacterial biofilms like nutrient supply, bacterial inhibitors (antibiotics) and plant defense compounds. Finally mathematical modeling can be performed together with mathematicians from the Institute of Biomathematics and Biometry (IBB).

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