Nebraska Food for Health Center member Dr. Kurt Piepenbrink, Department of Food Science & Technology at UNL, will present, “Nucleation of bacterial biofilm by extracellular polymers,” via Zoom as part of the Food for Health Seminar Series.

Talk Summary: Bacteria unicellular organisms, but they commonly persist in hostile environments in multicellular assemblies called biofilms. These surface-attached bacterial communities are known to provide resistance to clearance by the host immune system as well as treatment with antimicrobials. Here we investigate the structural mechanisms of biofilm formation in terms of interactions between extracellular polymers, particularly protein fibers called pili and extracellular DNA. Results from our group suggest that interactions between the pili of neighboring cells and DNA-binding by type IV pili and related filaments may be general mechanisms for the assembly of bacterial biofilm.


Join Zoom Meeting at: https://unl.zoom.us/j/92732064797?pwd=RVJQVElTZ0VsdHE2NnVVREpUR0Nldz09

Meeting ID: 927 3206 4797
Passcode: 759697