Bacterial biofilms, human health and industrial efficiency: to explore the development of biofilms in response to environmental stimuli. at University of Birmingham on FindAPhD.com

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Dr T Overton No more applications being accepted Competition Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)

About the Project

Biofilms are hard to remove from a variety of industrial and clinical settings and as such pose a risk to human health and industrial efficiency. However, the very factors that make biofilms problematic (resistance to antimicrobials, physical robustness) mean that they can be used as a platform for biocatalysis. We are currently interested in both desirable and undesirable biofilms, and the development of biofilms in response to environmental stimuli.
Specifically:
• What factors influence initial attachment, irreversible attachment and development of biofilm architecture?
• What regulators are involved in biofilm development?
• How can we use biofilms as biocatalysts?

The successful candidate will be able to agree a specialist research area with the supervisor once they have applied for the research.

Funding Notes

This project will be funded through the MIBTP scheme, which is a competition funding scheme. Full details on eligibility are here: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/mibtp/pgstudy/phd_opportunities/application/

References

Perni S, Hackett L, Goss RJM, Simmons MJ, Overton TW (2013) Optimisation of engineered Escherichia coli biofilms for enzymatic biosynthesis of L-halotryptophans. AMB Express 3: 66

Tsoligkas, AN, Bowen, J, Winn, M, Goss, RJM, Overton, TW and Simmons, MJH. (2012) Characterisation of spin coated engineered Escherichia coli biofilms using atomic force microscopy. Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces 89: 152-160

Tsoligkas, AN, Winn, M, Bowen, J, Overton, TW, Simmons, MJH, and Goss, RJM. (2011) Engineering Biofilms for Biocatalysis. ChemBioChem 12: 1391-1395

Where will I study?

University of Birmingham

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Bacterial biofilms, human health and industrial efficiency: to explore the development of biofilms in response to environmental stimuli.

University of Birmingham School of Chemical Engineering