Title: Surface Sensing, Motility Appendages, and Extracellular Electron Transport in P. Aeruginosa and S. Oneidensis
Abstract: Biofilms are integrated communities of cells that adhere to surfaces and are fundamental to the ecology and biology of bacteria. The accommodation of a free-swimming cell to a solid surface is more complex than simple modulation of cell adhesion. We investigate the interplay between motility appendages, molecular motors, metabolism, and extracellular electron transport during bacterial surface detection and adaptation using tools from different fields that are not usually combined, including theoretical physics, community tracking with single cell resolution, genetics, and microbiology.