Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results (based on the Work packages WPs):
1.WP1 Research objective 1 (Experiments to study initial stages of biofilm formation in real time with Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1):
Experiments of biofilm formation was performed with Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1, as well as with E coli K12 and Bacillus subtilis.
Polymers used: Polypropylene (PP), Polymethylene methacralate (PMMA), Polytetrafluoroethylene(PTFE), High density polyethylene (HDPE)
In addition to the above polymers(mentioned in the project proposal), biofilm was also grown on Polycarbonate(PC), and polymer microbeads of Polystyrene(PS) and PMMA of 25 um diameter.
Techniques used at different stages:
Initial stages of bacterial adhesion and biofilm growth was studied using:
Confocal Laser scanning microscope
Imaging Flow cytometer (Image stream from Amnis)
Biofilm growth was observed using:
Scanning electron microscope
Transmission electron microscope
Chemical composition of the biofilms on different substrates were studied with:
Renishaw Raman spectrometer
2.WP2 Research objective 2(Modelling the initial stages of biofilm growth considering the effects of substrate):
Effect of substrate has been observed experimentally using the above techniques
Time dependent data of biofilm growth on different substrates have been obtained experimentally.
The data has been used to derive the statistics of the inherent stages of bacterial adhesion and biofilm growth on different substrates.
3. WP3 Research objective 3 (Digital time-lapse microscopic imaging):
This part of the experiment was done using Confocal Laser scanning microscope and Imaging flow cytometer.
(Tried to do Digital time-lapse microscopic imaging at Prof Jeremy Webb's lab at the University of Southampton, but failed due to some interfering fluorescence issues of different proteins in biofilm matrix and conditioning layer)
4.WP4 Research objective 4 (Biofilm growth and spatial metapopulational model in 2 dimensions):
The data for this has been collected and I am actively collaborating with senior scientists from the University of Oxford and University of New Castle in order to sort this out, with vital inputs from Prof
Mario Recker and other scientists at the University of Exeter.
5. WP5 Research objective 5 (Spatio-temporal Individual Based model):
The basis of the model has been created, but I am actively pursuing this with Mario. We need to take into account the different substrates, hence facing a bit of delay. But this will be done within a
few weeks, as we need to run the program multiple times to verify it's plausibility.
6. WP6: Outreach and Dissemination: The research findings and output from the project have been presented as
1. Invited talks at various national and international conferences and
2. Research seminars at the Living Systems Institute, during weekly lab meetings
