The interactions of microbes with surfaces are important to many natural and engineered processes, affecting a wide range of applications from decontamination of surfaces or drinking water, prevention of microbial colonization of biomaterials, and bacterial processes in the environment.
Therefore, there is great interest in understanding the fundamental behavior of microbes at surfaces.
Topics are included that address interactions of cells with a number of surfaces for antifouling and microbial cell-based sensor applications; mechanistic studies of antimicrobial peptides and quorum sensing; exploration of experimental and theoretical models of a cell surface; cell surface display of peptides and enzymes as biofabrication techniques; the fate and transport of bacteria in the natural environment, as well as new experimental tools or modeling techniques to study interactions at the microbial surface. While most of the papers are geared towards a specific application, they all contain fundamental information regarding bacterial behavior at interfaces that allows their contents to translate to other problems, as well.
For example, many parallels are noted between the way bacteria interact with proteins-coated polymers on a catheter and bacterial-peptide interactions in a cellular detection assay.
An overlying theme of all the manuscripts is that they represent studies of microbial interfaces using the most sophisticated experimental and modeling tools available, and many feature interdisciplinary approaches to tackling the given problems.
1: Camesano, T.A., Mello, C.M.: Introduction 2: Kumari, A., Pasini P., Deo, S.K., Fomenhoft, D., Shashidhar, H., Daunert, S.: Biosensors for quorum chemical sensing molecules: implications of bacterial communication in gastrointestinal disorders 3: Brehm-Stecher, B.F.: Methods for Whole Cell Detection of Microorganisms 4: Mello, C.J., Soares, J.W.: Membrane Selectivity of Antimicrobial Peptides 5: Savage, P.B., Nielsen, J., Lai, X-Z., Feng, Y., Li, Y., Nelson, G., Linford, M.R., Genberg, C.: Antibacterial activities of thin films containing ceragenins 6: Strauss, J., Liu, Y., Milkani, E., McGimpsey, W.G., Camesano, T.A.: Retention and Viability of Staphylococcus epidermidis on Protein-Coated Self-Assembled Monolayers 7: Johnson, B.J., Delehanty, J.B., Lin, B., Ligler, F.S.: New Biological Activities of Plant Proanthocyanidins 8: Camesano, T.A., Pouliot, J.R., Lofgren, J.B., Pinzon-Arango, P.A.: Cranberry Extract as a Bacterial Anti-adhesive Coating 9: Abu-Lail, N.I.: An Atomic Force Microscopy Look at the Molecular World of Living Bacteria 10: Liu, Y., Camesano, T.A.: Immobilizing Bacteria for Atomic Force Microscopy Imaging or Force Measurements in Liquids 11: Yongsunthon, R., Fowler, V.G. Jr., Lower, S.K.: Binding forces associated with Staphylococcus aureus biofilms on medical implants 12: Basel, M.T., Janik, K., Niederweis, M., Bossmann, S.H.: Characterization of the Outer Membrane of M. Tuberculosis with Atomic Force Microcopy Methods 13: Curry, J.E., Heo, C.H., Maier, R.M.: Directly Measuring Adhesive and Elastic Properties of Bacteria using a Surface Force Apparatus 14: Li, G., Tang, J.X.: Measuring the Strength of Bacterial Adhesion by Micromanipulation 15: Chen, G., Hilton, A.H., Williams, M.: Modeling Bacterial Adhesion and Transport in the Environment 16: Nelson, K.A.: Mechanistic Modeling of Bacterial Transport in Saturated Porous Media 17: Johnson, W.P.: Mechanisms of Retention of Biological and Non-biological Colloids in Porous Media
Terri A. Camesano graduated from the Pennsylvania State University with a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering. Prior to that, she received an M.S. degree from the University of Arizona in Environmental Engineering, and B.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering and Environmental Science at the University of Rochester. She is currently an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Charlene M. Mello received a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. She is the biological sciences technical lead at the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research Development and Engineering Center. Research interests have centered around the interaction of proteins and peptides with themselves and other systems in their surroundings.
