National Biofilms Innovation Centre
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Southampton
Department Name: Sch of Biological Sciences
Abstract
Microbial biofilms and communities represent, collectively, the largest biomass on the planet, with an estimated 96% of microbes on Earth found in microbial biofilms and communities rather than in a free-swimming form. Biofilms play major roles in the biology of the natural and built environments, and in maintaining public health. They are one of the biggest causes of hospital-acquired infections and can cause chronic disease.
In addition to their well-recognised role in infection and disease, they can underpin or disrupt a wide range of industrial sectors: from food and drink to oil and gas, and from the marine industries to the built environment. The annual economic significance and impact of biofilms has been estimated at ~$3,900 bn globally (approx. £45 bn in the UK).
The National Biofilms Innovation Centre (NBIC) is a pan-UK Innovation and Knowledge Centre established to connect the expertise of the UK's academic community with end users in industry and the third sector. By bringing together the UK's strength in biofilm research, and combining it with the expertise of industrialists, NBIC aims to deliver new solutions and breakthrough technologies that will have an impact on day-to-day lives.
During Phase 2, as NBIC matures, we will harness the large academic and industry user base brought together over the last 4 years to focus on the development of new technologies for the prevention, detection, management and engineering of biofilm communities. We will draw on the best of our scientists and engineers to determine how best to safely design surfaces that prevent biofilms, establish methods to determine whether a problematic biofilm is present, create protocols for managing biofilms safely when they cannot be eradicated, and determine how to engineer biofilms for maximum benefit. We will do this by establishing ways of measuring biofilms that can be widely shared with the community, using advanced techniques and computational tools at our disposal. By leveraging our national connectivity, we will also establish uniform standards that can be used to guide the regulatory environment around biofilm control and exploitation.
As the predominant biomass on the planet, biofilms are susceptible to the changing environment driven by global warming, and will play an important role in new sources of energy generation. As climate change progresses, biofilm communities that are important to food and water security will also change, in ways that it is difficult to predict. As our infrastructure changes to adapt to a NetZero world, new biofilm challenges will inevitably arise.
By harnessing the strengths of our disparate community, comprising biological and physical scientists, engineers, mathematicians, social scientists, clinicians, industrialists and entrepreneurs and by training the next generation of scientists who can address complex biofilm research questions, we will place the UK at the forefront of the effort to mitigate these global challenges, leading to a sustainable and prosperous UK.
In addition to their well-recognised role in infection and disease, they can underpin or disrupt a wide range of industrial sectors: from food and drink to oil and gas, and from the marine industries to the built environment. The annual economic significance and impact of biofilms has been estimated at ~$3,900 bn globally (approx. £45 bn in the UK).
The National Biofilms Innovation Centre (NBIC) is a pan-UK Innovation and Knowledge Centre established to connect the expertise of the UK's academic community with end users in industry and the third sector. By bringing together the UK's strength in biofilm research, and combining it with the expertise of industrialists, NBIC aims to deliver new solutions and breakthrough technologies that will have an impact on day-to-day lives.
During Phase 2, as NBIC matures, we will harness the large academic and industry user base brought together over the last 4 years to focus on the development of new technologies for the prevention, detection, management and engineering of biofilm communities. We will draw on the best of our scientists and engineers to determine how best to safely design surfaces that prevent biofilms, establish methods to determine whether a problematic biofilm is present, create protocols for managing biofilms safely when they cannot be eradicated, and determine how to engineer biofilms for maximum benefit. We will do this by establishing ways of measuring biofilms that can be widely shared with the community, using advanced techniques and computational tools at our disposal. By leveraging our national connectivity, we will also establish uniform standards that can be used to guide the regulatory environment around biofilm control and exploitation.
As the predominant biomass on the planet, biofilms are susceptible to the changing environment driven by global warming, and will play an important role in new sources of energy generation. As climate change progresses, biofilm communities that are important to food and water security will also change, in ways that it is difficult to predict. As our infrastructure changes to adapt to a NetZero world, new biofilm challenges will inevitably arise.
By harnessing the strengths of our disparate community, comprising biological and physical scientists, engineers, mathematicians, social scientists, clinicians, industrialists and entrepreneurs and by training the next generation of scientists who can address complex biofilm research questions, we will place the UK at the forefront of the effort to mitigate these global challenges, leading to a sustainable and prosperous UK.
Technical Summary
Our research and innovation strategy will address key fundamental biofilm challenges identified through our engagement activities across our Prevent, Detect, Manage and Engineer themes, enabling us to deliver global impact across sectors (e.g. healthcare, personal care, climate change, NetZero, food and water safety/security).
We have identified key cross-cutting biofilm research and technology development challenges for delivery in Phase 2, including:
-A linked platform of integrated imaging techniques across scales (from atoms to biofilm communities) across physical, engineering and life sciences.
-Real-time, non-destructive monitoring and advanced imaging technologies and biomarkers for biofilms.
-Integrated multi-'omics to understand polymicrobial biofilm interactions.
-Spatially resolved and addressable delivery and monitoring of new biofilm interventions.
-De novo engineering of polymicrobial communities for targeted, sector-specific applications.
-Driving synergy between biofilm standards, policy making and strategic research, responding to the needs of our national and international academic-industry community.
-Developing a roadmap for new biofilm biobanking resources and infrastructure, which have been identified by our community as critical to underpin basic science programmes as well as accelerate product development and commercialization.
-Working with relevant national partners the way biofilms power microbiomes in preparation to develop a platform of translation and innovation in this field.
In training, Phase 2 will combine our current Doctoral Training Centre in Biofilms Innovation, Technology and Engineering (BITE) with a new BBSRC funded industry-led CTP programme to launch a national CTP-BITE training programme in Oct 2022. This will be the UK's first graduate training centre to address the skills and knowledge gap in the biofilm field. Our training will be accessible to industry to ensure cross-sectoral industrial upskilling.
We have identified key cross-cutting biofilm research and technology development challenges for delivery in Phase 2, including:
-A linked platform of integrated imaging techniques across scales (from atoms to biofilm communities) across physical, engineering and life sciences.
-Real-time, non-destructive monitoring and advanced imaging technologies and biomarkers for biofilms.
-Integrated multi-'omics to understand polymicrobial biofilm interactions.
-Spatially resolved and addressable delivery and monitoring of new biofilm interventions.
-De novo engineering of polymicrobial communities for targeted, sector-specific applications.
-Driving synergy between biofilm standards, policy making and strategic research, responding to the needs of our national and international academic-industry community.
-Developing a roadmap for new biofilm biobanking resources and infrastructure, which have been identified by our community as critical to underpin basic science programmes as well as accelerate product development and commercialization.
-Working with relevant national partners the way biofilms power microbiomes in preparation to develop a platform of translation and innovation in this field.
In training, Phase 2 will combine our current Doctoral Training Centre in Biofilms Innovation, Technology and Engineering (BITE) with a new BBSRC funded industry-led CTP programme to launch a national CTP-BITE training programme in Oct 2022. This will be the UK's first graduate training centre to address the skills and knowledge gap in the biofilm field. Our training will be accessible to industry to ensure cross-sectoral industrial upskilling.
Publications
Arbour CA
(2023)
Defining early steps in Bacillus subtilis biofilm biosynthesis.
in mBio
Arnaouteli S
(2023)
Lateral interactions govern self-assembly of the bacterial biofilm matrix protein BslA.
in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Bamford NC
(2023)
Microbial Primer: An introduction to biofilms - what they are, why they form and their impact on built and natural environments.
in Microbiology (Reading, England)
Board-Davies EL
(2023)
Antimicrobial effects of XF drugs against Candida albicans and its biofilms.
in Frontiers in fungal biology
Contreas L
(2023)
Linear Binary Classifier to Predict Bacterial Biofilm Formation on Polyacrylates.
in ACS applied materials & interfaces
Gloag ES
(2023)
A Combination of Zinc and Arginine Disrupt the Mechanical Integrity of Dental Biofilms.
in Microbiology spectrum
Han R
(2023)
Deciphering the adaption of bacterial cell wall mechanical integrity and turgor to different chemical or mechanical environments.
in Journal of colloid and interface science
Hervé RC
(2024)
Impact of different hand drying methods on surrounding environment: aerosolization of virus and bacteria and transference to surfaces.
in The Journal of hospital infection
Howe CJ
(2023)
Is it realistic to use microbial photosynthesis to produce electricity directly?
in PLoS biology
Kalamara M
(2023)
The putative role of the epipeptide EpeX in Bacillus subtilis intra-species competition.
in Microbiology (Reading, England)
Kasza K
(2023)
Hybrid Poly( ß -amino ester) Triblock Copolymers Utilizing a RAFT Polymerization Grafting-From Methodology
in Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics
Kasza K
(2024)
Ciprofloxacin Poly(ß-amino ester) Conjugates Enhance Antibiofilm Activity and Slow the Development of Resistance.
in ACS applied materials & interfaces
Khateb H
(2023)
Identification of Pseudomonas aeruginosa exopolysaccharide Psl in biofilms using 3D OrbiSIMS.
in Biointerphases
Kotowska AM
(2023)
Toward Comprehensive Analysis of the 3D Chemistry of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilms.
in Analytical chemistry
Melaugh G
(2023)
Distinct types of multicellular aggregates in Pseudomonas aeruginosa liquid cultures
in npj Biofilms and Microbiomes
Mellini M
(2023)
RsaL-driven negative regulation promotes heterogeneity in Pseudomonas aeruginosa quorum sensing.
in mBio
Michopoulou S
(2022)
Biomarkers of Inflammation Increase with Tau and Neurodegeneration but not with Amyloid-ß in a Heterogenous Clinical Cohort
in Journal of Alzheimer's Disease
Morris G
(2023)
Temperature and pH Stimuli-Responsive System Delivers Location-Specific Antimicrobial Activity with Natural Products.
in ACS applied bio materials
Morris RJ
(2024)
Bacillus subtilis Matrix Protein TasA is Interfacially Active, but BslA Dominates Interfacial Film Properties.
in Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids
Ottonello A
(2023)
Shapeshifting bullvalene-linked vancomycin dimers as effective antibiotics against multidrug-resistant gram-positive bacteria.
in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Robertson S
(2024)
Development, characterisation and evaluation of a simple polymicrobial colony biofilm model for testing of antimicrobial wound dressings
in Journal of Applied Microbiology
Rosazza T
(2023)
Bacillus subtilis extracellular protease production incurs a context-dependent cost
in Molecular Microbiology
Singh BP
(2023)
Lipid-induced polymorphic amyloid fibril formation by a-synuclein.
in Protein science : a publication of the Protein Society
Snowdon A
(2022)
Elastomeric sandpaper replicas as model systems for investigating elasticity, roughness and associated drag in a marine biofilm flow cell
in Ocean Engineering
Snowdon AA
(2023)
Surface properties influence marine biofilm rheology, with implications for ship drag.
in Soft matter
Soukarieh F
(2024)
Design, Synthesis, and Evaluation of New 1H-Benzo[d]imidazole Based PqsR Inhibitors as Adjuvant Therapy for Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infections.
in Journal of medicinal chemistry
Valentin JDP
(2023)
Identification of Potential Antimicrobial Targets of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilms through a Novel Screening Approach.
in Microbiology spectrum
Van Rossem M
(2023)
Homogenization modelling of antibiotic diffusion and adsorption in viral liquid crystals
in Royal Society Open Science
Verran J
(2023)
Hands on Biofilm! Utilizing a public audience in a citizen science project to assess yield variability when culturing kombucha pellicle
in FEMS Microbiology Letters
Watson F
(2023)
Evaluating the environmental microbiota across four National Health Service hospitals within England.
in The Journal of hospital infection
Wilks S
(2023)
A MULTI-TECHNIQUE APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACT OF BIOFILMS ON URETERIC/URETERAL STENTS
in Continence
Wilks S
(2023)
UNDERSTANDING THE USE OF THE NANOVIBRONIX® UROSHIELD® IN PREVENTING CATHETER-ASSOCIATED INFECTIONS AND BLOCKAGE.
in Continence
Williams P
(2023)
Quorum-sensing, intra- and inter-species competition in the staphylococci
in Microbiology
Wormald R
(2023)
Bacillus-based probiotic cleansers reduce the formation of dry biofilms on common hospital surfaces.
in MicrobiologyOpen
Wu Y
(2024)
Co-assembling living material as an in vitro lung epithelial infection model
in Matter
Young E
(2023)
Active layer dynamics drives a transition to biofilm fingering.
in NPJ biofilms and microbiomes