Regensburg 2016 – wissenschaftliches Programm
Bereiche | Tage | Auswahl | Suche | Aktualisierungen | Downloads | Hilfe
BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 46: Posters - Biomaterials and Biopolymers
BP 46.3: Poster
Mittwoch, 9. März 2016, 17:00–19:00, Poster C
Stochastic binding of Staphylococcus aureus — •Nicolas Thewes1, Alexander Thewes2, Friederike Nolle1, Ludger Santen2, and Karin Jacobs1 — 1Saarland University, Dept. of Experimental Physics, 66041 Saarbrücken — 2Saarland University, Dept. of Theoretical Physics, 66041 Saarbrücken
Bacteria exhibit an outstanding ability to adhere to various kinds of surfaces. The Hydrophobic interaction plays a crucial role for the adhesion of bacteria [1]. Hence, we studied the contact formation process of Staphylococcus aureus to hydrophobic surfaces by combining AFM single cell force spectroscopy and computer simulations of a simple model for bacterial adhesion [2]. We found that the contact formation of S. aureus relies on thermally fluctuation cell wall proteins that tether to a surface and subsequently pull the bacterium to the surface. That way, S. aureus is able to attach to surfaces over distances far beyond the range of classic surface forces.
In our model the bacterial surface biopolymers are represented by elastic springs that interact with a surface via a square potential. The model is analyzed using Monte-Carlo Simulations and the results suggest that the bacterial adhesion process in general, can be described by solely taking into account the tethered biopolymers between a bacterium and a surface.
[1] N. Thewes et al, Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1501 - 1512 [2] N. Thewes et al, Soft Matter 2015, 11, 8913 - 8919