Biofilms: A Manageable Lifestyle?

ABSTRACT

Biofilms are surface-associated communities of bacteria encased in a slimy matrix of their own making. Living in a biofilm is associated with the resident bacteria being up to 1000 times more tolerant to antibacterial compounds than their planktonic counterparts. This extraordinary innate resistance to antimicrobial treatments renders biofilms extremely difficult to control in medical settings. While much research has focused on preventing the formation of biofilms in the first place, recent findings have suggested another promising avenue open for biofilm control: the manipulation of the biofilm lifestyle. I will discuss the regulation of the biofilm developmental lifestyle ranging from attachment to dispersion, intervention points, and potential approaches based on intervention points to manipulate biofilms.

BIOGRAPHY

Karin Sauer studies biofilm formation by the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. She focuses on elucidating regulatory mechanisms underlying biofilm development, biofilm dispersion and biofilm antimicrobial resistance. She earned a doctorate in microbiology and biochemistry from the Max-Planck-Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg, Germany, and completed post-doctoral fellowships at the Max-Planck-Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology and the Center for Biofilm Engineering at Montana State University. Her postdoctoral work with Anne Camper at the Center for Biofilm Engineering at Montana State University in Bozeman and her subsequent research at Binghamton University led to the discovery that surface attachment by Pseudomonas sp. not only coincides with significant changes at the transcript and protein levels but that subsequent formation of biofilms occurs in a progressive and stage-specific manner with each stage displaying a distinct phenotype. Dr. Sauer joined the faculty at the Department of Biological Sciences at Binghamton University in 2002. She is a Distinguished Professor at the Department of Biological Sciences, Co-director of the Binghamton Biofilm Research Center (BBRC), and Co-director of the Microbial Biofilm REU program. Karin Sauer is the recipient of the Otto Hahn Medal, the Dean’s Distinguished Lecture, the Chancellor's Awards for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities and has recently been elected fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. Her research has received continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health since 2003.