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Bacterial biofilms: toward a multicellular physiology.
By Agnese SEMINARA
March 4, 2013 at 11:00AM - Salle de réunion du LJP
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Abstract
Bacterial biofilms are organized communities of cells living in association with surfaces. The hallmark of biofilm formation is a well defined spatio-temporal pattern of gene expression, leading to differentiation and a complex morphology. While this process resembles the development of a multicellular organism, biofilms are only transiently multicellular. More importantly the functions associated to the biofilm phenotype are largely unknown.
In this talk I will first discuss aspects of biofilm physiology connected to biofilm expansion on surfaces in the soil bacterium Bacillus subtilis. I will then describe a framework (in progress) to probe the origin of the observed gene expression patterns, a first step to understand the basis for cell decision-making in a biofilm.
