Biofilms are communities of interacting microbes that are associated with resistance to antibiotics and to the immune system, and with increased virulence and associated damage to the host.  Most chronic infections are caused by biofilms, which are a significant and growing public health problem.  Biofilms often initiate when free-swimming bacteria attach to a surface, sense the surface, and respond by changing their gene expression to begin developing into a biofilm.  In a recent publication (Rodesney <i>et al</i>, 2017 PNAS), we have shown that an important human pathogen, <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i>, senses attachment to the surface by sensing increased shear.  Here, I will present these results and their extension to other biofilm-forming species and implications for a new strategy for biofilm prevention.

How bacteria sense surfaces to begin biofilm development, and how we might thwart surface sensing to prevent biofilm development

255th National Meeting (2018)

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