TY - CONF A1 - Zubia Aranburu, Judith A1 - Cappella, Brunero A1 - Zabala Eguren, A. A1 - Buruaga Lamarain, L. A1 - Aginagalde Lopez, A. A1 - Bonse, Jörn A1 - Schwibbert, Karin T1 - Quantification of the adhesion force of E. coli on Ti via single-cell force spectroscopy N2 - Antibiotic resistance is a growing global problem which poses a massive threat to human health. Although human activity contributes to the acceleration of the process, bacteria have a self-driven stabilisation mechanism to protect themselves from such and other external threats: biofilm formation. Nonetheless, it is the adhesion of a single bacterial cell to a surface that triggers the formation of such network of biomolecules and microorganisms, as well as its hazardous consequences. The main objective of this work was to quantify the adhesion force of a single E. coli cell on a Ti substrate via the AFM-related single-cell force spectroscopy, with both the cell and the substrate material being of high clinical relevance. A set of 25 x 25 force displacement curves was acquired with a maximum force of 3.2 nN without dwell time, yielding a topography map and an adhesion force map that showed to be correlated. A mean adhesion force of 0.85 ± 0.175 nN was measured and the presence of cell appendages on the bacterial cell wall was verified through individual force-displacement curves. Bacterial viability was assessed after the measurements via live/dead staining. T2 - XL Congreso Anual de la Sociedad Española de Ingeniería Biomédica CASEIB 2022 CY - Valladolid, Spain DA - 23.11.2022 KW - Bacteria KW - Atomic force microscopy KW - Force distance curve PY - 2022 SN - 978-84-09-45972-8 SP - 217 EP - 220 AN - OPUS4-57039 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Yao, J. A1 - Jiang, T. A1 - Ji, Y. A1 - An-Stepec, Biwen Annie A1 - Koerdt, Andrea A1 - Cai, Z. A1 - Dong, C. A1 - Ge, Y. A1 - Qi, Z. T1 - Water-Fueled Autocatalytic Bactericidal Pathway based on e-Fenton-Like Reactions Triggered by Galvanic Corrosion and Extracellular Electron Transfer N2 - Water is generally considered to be an undesirable substance in fuel system, which may lead to microbial contamination. The antibacterial strategies that can turn water into things of value with high disinfection efficacy have been urgently needed for fuel system. Here, we reveal a water-fueled autocatalytic bactericidal pathway comprised by bi-metal micro-electrode system, which can spontaneously produce reactive oxygen species (mainly H2O2 and O2•–) by the electron Fenton-like reaction in water medium without external energy., The respiratory chain component of bacteria and the galvanic corrosion on the coated metals were two electron sources in the system. The specific model of Ag-Ru water-fueled autocatalytic (WFA) microelectrode particles presents extremely high disinfection efficiency (>99.9999%) in less than one hour for three aerobic bacteria (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Bacillus subtilis) in LB media and high disinfection efficiency for the anaerobic bacteria (Desulfovibrio alaskensis) in Postgate E media without natural light irradiation. Overall, the novel WFA Ag-Ru antibacterial material explored in this study has a high potential for sterilizing applications in fuel system and this work provides the potential for the development of non-chemical and water-based antibacterial materials, such as WFA Ag-Ru antibacterial coating on stainless steel. KW - Fenton-like reaction KW - Reactive oxygen species KW - Disinfection Fuel KW - Silver KW - Ruthenium KW - MIC PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-555186 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.129730 SN - 0304-3894 VL - 440 SP - 1 EP - 11 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-55518 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Xu, Yong A1 - Huang, Yanliang A1 - Yang, D. A1 - Kunte, Hans-Jörg A1 - De Marco, R. A1 - Wang, X. T1 - Investigation of the calcareous deposits formation controlled by interfacial pH and its effect on the hydrogen entry into AISI 4135 steel in seawater N2 - The influence of interfacial pH between AISI 4135 steel and seawater under different polarization potentials on the formation of calcareous deposits has been studied. An interfacial pH of 9.61 at −0.9 V vs. SCE using state of the art iridium oxide microelectrode was found to be the critical pH for the precipitation of magnesium hydroxide. Calcareous deposits with a double-layer structure comprising an inner-brucite layer and an outer-aragonite layer were found to form at potentials between −1.0 V and −1.2 V vs. SCE. Furthermore, the facilitation of hydrogen permeation into steel induced by the formation of calcareous deposits was verified using the Devanathan-Stachurski electrochemical test. The mechanism of calcareous deposits facilitates hydrogen permeation into steel is related to its inhibition on hydrogen recombination and escape processes. KW - Low alloy steel KW - Cathodic protection KW - Calcareous deposits KW - Hydrogen permeation PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.11.040 SN - 0360-3199 SP - 1 EP - 18 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-51730 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wittmar, J. A1 - Ohle, Corina A1 - Kunte, Hans-Jörg A1 - Brand, I. T1 - Effect of Ectoine on the Conformation and Hybridization of dsDNA in Monolayer Films: A Spectroelectrochemical Study N2 - Lack of long-time stability of dsDNA-based supramolecular assemblies is an important issue that hinders their applications. In this work, 20 base pairs long dsDNA fragments [(dCdG)20 65%] composed of 65% dCdG and 35% dAdT nucleotides were tethered via a thiol to the surface of a gold electrode. The selfassembled (dCdG)20 -65% monolayer was immersed in solutions containing ectoine, a compatible solute. Electrochemical results showed that these monolayers were stable for one month. In situ IR spectroscopy indicated that ectoine interacts weakly with the phosphate-ribose backbone, dehydrating the phosphate groups and stabilizing the A-DNA conformation. This structural reorganization led to a reorientation of nucleic acid base pairs and a local disruption of the double-helix structure. However, the conformation and orientation of the dsDNA fragment was stable in the KW - Ectoine KW - dsDAN monolayer KW - A-DNA conformation PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-533346 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/celc.202100816 SN - 2196-0216 VL - 8 IS - 20 SP - 3844 EP - 3854 PB - Wiley-VCH GmbH AN - OPUS4-53334 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wittmar, J. A1 - Meyer, Susann A1 - Sieling, T. A1 - Kunte, Hans-Jörg A1 - Smiatek, Jens A1 - Brand, Izabella T1 - What Does Ectoine Do to DNA? A Molecular-Scale Picture of Compatible Solute−Biopolymer Interactions N2 - Compatible solutes are accumulated in the cytoplasm of halophilic microorganisms. These molecules enable their survival in a high salinity environment. Ectoine is such a compatible solute. It is a zwitterionic molecule which strongly interacts with surrounding water molecules and changes the dynamics of the local hydration shell. Ectoine interacts with biomolecules such as lipids, proteins and DNA. The molecular interaction between ectoine and biomolecules in particular the interaction between ectoine and DNA is far from being understood. In this paper we describe molecular aspects of the interaction between ectoine and double stranded DNA(dsDNA). Two 20 base pairs long dsDNA fragments were immobilized on a Gold surface via a thiol-tether. The interaction between the dsDNA monolayers with diluted and concentrated ectoine solutions was examined by means of X-ray photoelectron and polarization modulation infrared reflection absorption spectroscopies (PM IRRAS). Experimental results indicate that the ability of ectoine to bind water reduces the strength of hydrogen bonds formed to the ribose-phosphate backbone in the dsDNA. In diluted (0.1 M) ectoine solution, DNA interacts predominantly with water molecules. The sugar-phosphate backbone is involved in the formation of strong hydrogen bonds to water, which with elapsing time leads to a reorientation of the planes of nucleic acid bases. This reorientation destabilizes the hydrogen bonds strength between the bases and leads to a partial dehybridizaiton of the dsDNA. In concentrated ectoine solution (2.5 M), almost all water molecules interact with ectoine. Under this condition ectoine is able to interact directly with DNA. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations demonstrate that the direct interaction involves the nitrogen atoms in ectoine and phosphate groups in the DNA molecule. The results of the quantum chemical calculations Show that rearrangements in the ribose-phosphate backbone, caused by a direct interaction with ectoine, facilitates contacts between O atom in the phosphate group and H atoms in a nucleic acid base. In the PM IRRA spectra, an increase in the number of the IR absorption modes in the base pair frequency region proves that the hydrogen bonds between bases become weaker. Thus, a sequence of reorientations caused by interaction with ectoine leads to a breakdown of hydrogen bonds between bases in the double helix. KW - Compatible solute KW - Ectoine KW - DNA KW - Self-assembled monolayer KW - IR spectroscopy KW - XPS PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcb.0c05273 VL - 124 IS - 37 SP - 7999 EP - 8011 PB - ACS Publicatios AN - OPUS4-51182 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wen, Keqing A1 - Gorbushina, Anna A1 - Schwibbert, Karin A1 - Bell, Jérémy T1 - Microfluidic platform with precisely controlled hydrodynamic parameters and integrated features for generation of microvortices to accurately form and monitor biofilms in flow N2 - Microorganisms often live in habitats characterized by fluid flow, and their adhesion to surfaces in industrial systems or clinical settings may lead to pipe clogging, microbially influenced corrosion, material deterioration, food spoilage, infections, and human illness. Here, a novel microfluidic platform was developed to investigate biofilm formation under precisely controlled (i) cell concentration, (ii) temperature, and (iii) flow conditions. The developed platform central unit is a single-channel microfluidic flow cell designed to ensure ultrahomogeneous flow and condition in its central area, where features, e.g., with trapping properties, can be incorporated. In comparison to static and macroflow chamber assays for biofilm studies, microfluidic chips allow in situ monitoring of biofilm formation under various flow regimes and have better environment control and smaller sample requirements. Flow simulations and experiments with fluorescent particles were used to simulate bacteria flow in the platform cell for calculating flow velocity and direction at the microscale level. The combination of flow analysis and fluorescent strain injection in the cell showed that microtraps placed at the center of the channel were efficient in capturing bacteria at determined positions and to study how flow conditions, especially microvortices, can affect biofilm formation. The microfluidic platform exhibited improved performances in terms of homogeneity and robustness for in vitro biofilm formation. We anticipate the presented platform to be suitable for broad, versatile, and high-throughput biofilm studies at the microscale level. KW - Topographical pattern KW - E. coli KW - Fluorescence KW - Bacteria trapping KW - Particle velocimetry PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-610450 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsbiomaterials.4c00101 SN - 2373-9878 VL - 10 IS - 7 SP - 4626 EP - 4634 PB - ACS Publ. CY - Washington, DC AN - OPUS4-61045 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Wen, Keqing A1 - Gorbushina, Anna A1 - Schwibbert, Karin A1 - Bell, Jérémy T1 - A microfluidic platform for monitoring biofilm formation in flow under defined hydrodynamic conditions N2 - Bacterial adhesion on surfaces of medical, water and food applications may lead to infections, water or food spoilage and human illness. In comparison to traditional static and macro flow chamber assays for biofilm formation studies, microfluidic chips allow in situ monitoring of biofilm formation under various flow regimes, have better environment control and smaller sample requirements. In this work, a novel microfluidic platform is developed to investigate biofilm adhesion under precisely controlled bacteria concentration, temperature, and flow conditions. This platform central unit is a single-inlet microfluidic flow cell with a 5 mm wide chamber designed and tested to achieve ultra-homogenous flow in the central area of chamber. Within this area, defined microstructures are integrated that will disturb the homogeneity of the flow, thus changing bacterial adhesion pattern. Here we present the monitoring of bacterial biofilm formation in a microfluidic chip equipped with a microstructure known as micro-trap. This feature is based on a 3D bacteria trap designed by Di Giacomo et al. and successfully used to sequester motile bacteria. At first, fluorescent particles similar in size to Escherichia coli (E. coli) are used to simulate bacteria flow inside the flow cell and at the micro-trap. The turbulences induced by the trap are analyzed by imaging and particle tracking velocimetry (PTV). Secondly, the model strain E. coli TG1, ideal and well described for biofilm studies, is used to analyze biofilm formation in the micro-trap. Therefore, a stable fluorescent strain E. coli TG1-MRE-Tn7-141 is constructed by using Tn7 transposon mutagenesis according to the method described by Schlechter et al. Sequestering of E. coli cells within the micro-trap was followed using epifluorescence microscopy. The novel microfluidic platform shows great potential for assessment of bacterial adhesion under various flow regimes. The performance of structural feature with respect to the generation of turbulences that promote or reduce bacterial adhesion can be systematically examined. The combination of flow analysis and fluorescent strain injection into the microfluidic chip shows that the micro-trap is useful for capturing bacteria at defined positions and to study how flow conditions, especially micro-turbulences, can affect biofilm formation. It represents a powerful and versatile tool for studying the relation between topography and bacteria adhesion. T2 - International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences CY - Katowice, Poland DA - 15.10.2023 KW - Biofilm KW - E. coli KW - Microfluidics KW - Velocimetry KW - Fluorescence PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-59593 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Wen, Keqing T1 - In situ analysis of biofilm formation under different flow regimes with the help of a microfluidic platform N2 - Bacteria often live in habitats characterized by fluid flow, which is ubiquitous in a diverse range of environments such as surface waters, wastewater treatment facilities, pipelines, and medical implants. Bacterial adhesion on surfaces may lead to biocorrosion and biodegradation. In comparison to traditional static and macro flow chamber assays for biofilm formation studies, microfluidic chips allow in situ monitoring of biofilm formation and biofilm related gene expression under various flow regimes. We developed a complete microfluidic platform to investigate biofilms under precisely controlled flow conditions. This platform central unit is a single-inlet microfluidic flow cell with a 5 mm wide chamber tested and analyzed by imaging tracking velocimetry (PIV) to achieve ultra-homogenous flow in the central area of the chamber. Additionally, dedicated microstructures were introduced to the chamber’s center to favor and localize bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation pattern. The flows and vortices induced by the structure were analyzed by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and related to shape and dimension of the biofilm formed by Escherichia coli TG1. The major proteinaceous component of E. coli biofilms are extracellular amyloid fibers (curli) consisting of major (CsgA) and minor (CsgB) subunits. We used the promotor probe plasmid pRU1701 to monitor csgB-promotor activity under different flow regimes in complex and minimal medium. For comparison, csgB promotor activity in a batch liquid culture and curli production on LB and M9 agar plates were assessed. The microfluidic platform represents a powerful and versatile tool for studying biofilm in flow. The setup shows great potential for the yet not too much explored in flow monitoring of biofilm formation and related gene expression under hydrodynamic stresses. T2 - International Biodeterioration and Biodegradation Symposium (IBBS) 19 CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 09.09.2024 KW - Microfluidics KW - Biofilm KW - Escherichia coli KW - Curli PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-61911 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Vareschi, Silvia A1 - Jaut, Valerie A1 - Vijay, Srinivasan A1 - Allen, Rosalind J. A1 - Schreiber, Frank T1 - Antimicrobial efflux and biofilms: an interplay leading to emergent resistance evolution N2 - The biofilm mode of growth and drug efflux are both important factors that impede the treatment of bacterial infections with antimicrobials. Decades of work have uncovered the mechanisms involved in both efflux and biofilm-mediated antimicrobial tolerance, but links between these phenomena have only recently been discovered. Novel findings show how efflux impacts global cellular physiology and antibiotic tolerance, underpinned by phenotypic heterogeneity. In addition efflux can mediate cell-to-cell interactions, relevant in biofilms, via mechanisms including efflux of signaling molecules and metabolites, signaling using pump components and the establishment of local antibiotic gradients via pumping. These recent findings suggest that biofilm antibiotic tolerance and efflux are closely coupled, with synergistic effects leading to the evolution of antimicrobial resistance in the biofilm environment. KW - Evolution KW - Efflux KW - Antibiotics KW - Biofilms KW - Antimicrobial resistance KW - Phenotypic heterogeneity PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-632799 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tim.2025.04.012 SN - 0966-842X SP - 1 EP - 15 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-63279 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Varadarajan, A. A1 - Allan, R. A1 - Valentin, J. A1 - Castañeda Ocampo, O. A1 - Somerville, V. A1 - Buhmann, M. A1 - West, J. A1 - Skipp, Paul A1 - van der Mei, H. A1 - Ren, Q. A1 - Schreiber, Frank A1 - Webb, J. A1 - Pietsch, Franziska A1 - Ahrens, C. T1 - An integrated model system to gain mechanistic insights into biofilm-associated antimicrobial resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa MPAO1 N2 - Pseudomonas aeruginosa MPAO1 is the parental strain of the widely utilized transposon mutant collection for this important clinical pathogen. Here, we validate a model system to identify genes involved in biofilm growth and biofilm-associated antibiotic resistance. Our model employs a genomics-driven workflow to assemble the complete MPAO1 genome, identify unique and conserved genes by comparative genomics with the PAO1 reference strain and genes missed within existing assemblies by proteogenomics. Among over 200 unique MPAO1 genes, we identified six general essential genes that were overlooked when mapping public Tn-seq data sets against PAO1, including an antitoxin. Genomic data were integrated with phenotypic data from an experimental workflow using a user-friendly, soft lithography-based microfluidic flow chamber for biofilm growth and a screen with the Tn-mutant library in microtiter plates. The screen identified hitherto unknown genes involved in biofilm growth and antibiotic resistance. Experiments conducted with the flow chamber across three laboratories delivered reproducible data on P. aeruginosa biofilms and validated the function of both known genes and genes identified in the Tn-mutant screens. Differential Protein abundance data from planktonic cells versus biofilm confirmed the upregulation of candidates known to affect biofilm formation, of structural and secreted proteins of type VI secretion systems, and provided proteogenomic evidence for some missed MPAO1 genes. This integrated, broadly applicable model promises to improve the mechanistic understanding of biofilm formation, antimicrobial tolerance, and resistance evolution in biofilms. KW - Biofilms PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-515108 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41522-020-00154-8 VL - 6 IS - 1 SP - Article number: 46 PB - Springer Nature CY - Singapore AN - OPUS4-51510 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -