Engineering Surface Topography to Influence Horizontal Gene Transfer in Bacteria.

The aim of this proof-of-principle project is to unambiguously demonstrate the importance of engineering surface topography to design materials and devices capable of controlling HGT. Specifically, we propose to use strains of clinically relevant Enterobacteriaceae, which have recently developed resistance to the carbapenem antibiotics (drugs of last resort) through HGT of conjugative plasmids, to investigate how surface topography can affect HGT. We will select resistant donor and non-resistant recipient strains and carry out mating experiments in microhabitats of controlled surface topography developed using soft-lithography techniques. Here, using optical microscopy, we will be able to monitor rates of transfer (also due to other factors, e.g., spatial patchiness, flows as well as distribution of nutrients and antibiotics in the environment). Beyond the scientific interest, this project will offer valuable multidisciplinary training to the student as it will use a novel combination of methods from microbiology, molecular biology, microfabrication, microfluidics and advanced microscopy.

This project overlaps with several ESPRC Research Themes (Engineering, Healthcare Technologies, Manufacturing the Future) and is foundational in nature. We are in fact proposing a proof-of-concept demonstration of the possibility of engineering surface topography in materials and devices to control HGT.