2023 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report
Elucidating the mechanism of bacteria-mediated oil degradation by imaging biofilm formation on oil drops in microfluidic traps
| Project/Area Number |
21H01720
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| Research Institution | University of Tsukuba |
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Principal Investigator |
UTADA ANDREW 筑波大学, 生命環境系, 准教授 (90776626)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
尾花 望 筑波大学, 医学医療系, 助教 (00722688)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2021-04-01 – 2024-03-31
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| Keywords | biofilm / alcanivorax / microfluidics / liquid crystal / active matter |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
Purpose of the Research: The motivation of this work is to investigate cell attachment and early stages of biofilm formation of oil degrading bacteria on oil micro-drops.
During this last year of the grant we further investigated the correlated motion between surface-attached cells at the oil-water interface. From our findings that biofilm is elastic, which was based on our results that show liquid crystal ordering of cells on drop surfaces, we have analyzed order over the entire drop surface. These tests were made possible using red and green fluorescent protein expressing bacteria that we constructed. Last year, we found that the interfacial properties of oil-adapted cells and their conditioned components, were more hydrophobic the longer they are cultured using oil and that they develop the ability to enact surface changes. We followed up on these tests and showed that cells well-adapted to are able to out-compete the surface of drops for space relative to unadapted cells. Finally, we showed that dispersants, similar to those used in the ocean during oil spill cleanup, are able to wash cells off of droplets indicating potential issues with using such compounds.
The manuscript that was uploaded to the bioRxiv was accepted for publication at Science magazine.
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| Research Progress Status |
令和5年度が最終年度であるため、記入しない。
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
令和5年度が最終年度であるため、記入しない。
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