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SUMMARY:The importance of fluid flow in the world of microbes: from the tr
 ansport of bacteria to the formation of biofilms
DTSTART:20160601T160000
DTSTAMP:20260924T110209Z
UID:e710b12fb26f71e8ee20c2ff94521163433ff3a579ebce23743c1eec
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Roberto Rusconi\, ETHZ\nThe vast majority of microorganism
 s are exposed to fluid flow\, whether in natural environments\, the human 
 body\, or artificial systems. Flow plays an important role in a broad vari
 ety of microbial processes\, including nutrient uptake and fertilization\,
  as well as in many industrial applications\, ranging from wastewater trea
 tment to the production of biofuels. However\, despite the pervasive occur
 rence and implications of a fluid dynamic environment\, its influence on t
 he transport and attachment of bacteria to surfaces and the formation of b
 iofilms remains poorly investigated and understood. This challenge can be 
 efficiently addressed using microfluidics\, which allows for accurate cont
 rol and manipulation of the physical and chemical environment experienced 
 by the cells\, greatly facilitating parallelization and replication to min
 imize artifacts or contaminations.\nIn this talk\, I will present a novel 
 and counterintuitive phenomenon by which the coupling of flow with bacteri
 al motility and morphology creates strong heterogeneity in the spatial dis
 tribution of bacteria by “trapping” them near the walls of a channel\,
  thus increasing the likelihood of colonizing those areas. In addition\, t
 he topography of the surface can enhance bacterial attachment in specific 
 regions\, as shown by microfluidic experiments and numerical modelling of 
 bacterial transport over regular and randomly corrugated boundaries.\nI wi
 ll then discuss the effect of flow and geometric constraints on the format
 ion and structure of biofilms\, namely the occurrence of suspended filamen
 tous aggregates called streamers. I will show that streamers form as conse
 quence of secondary vortical flows that drive the accumulation and extrusi
 on of the polymeric substances secreted by the bacteria and have much high
 er potential for causing clogging and spreading infections. Taken together
 \, these results underscore the importance of fluid flow in triggering bac
 terial attachment and biofilm formation under common environmental conditi
 ons\, with significant consequences in a broad range of ecological\, indus
 trial\, and medical problems.\nBio: Roberto Rusconi earned a MS in Nuclea
 r Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Milan\, where he also rec
 eived a PhD in Radiation Science and Technology working on nonequilibrium 
 effects in nanoparticle dispersions. After a postdoctoral period at Harvar
 d University and MIT\, he is currently an Oberassistent in the Department 
 of Civil\, Environmental & Geomatic Engineering at ETH Zurich. His researc
 h combines microfluidics and numerical simulations and is broadly aimed at
  understanding the behavior of microorganisms in response to environmental
  conditions\, including physical forces and chemical cues.
LOCATION:BS170 http://plan.epfl.ch/?lang=en&room=BS170
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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