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Davies, assistant professor of biology, researches
the evolutionary adaptability of bacterial colonies
known as biofilms to discover ways of transforming their
destructive properties into useful processes that can
protect the environment from disasters such as oil spills.
Biofilm communities are responsible for much of the
biological activity attributed to bacteria in the wide
range of habitats occupied by these biochemically complex
microorganisms. Davies lab is currently investigating
the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa, perhaps the most
abundant organism on the planet, and one that is found
predominantly in biofilms.
He is interested in how this organism changes the
regulation of biofilm-specific genes during the four
stages of biofilm development. His research includes
investigating the influence of specific genes such as
those involved in cell-to-cell communication on the
production of the matrix polymer material that is responsible
for cementing biofilm bacteria to surfaces and for maintaining
the integrity of the biofilm architecture.
Davies is also looking at the mechanisms by which
Pseudomonas biofilms are "autodispersed" in
an effort to develop methods by which biofilm disruption
can be reproducibly induced.
The disruption of biofilms is of major importance
in medicine where treatment of biofilm infections has
proved to be generally ineffective. In another area
of his research, he is looking at the protein profile
or "proteome" of the bacteria during the biofilm
developmental process in order to characterize the phenotypic
changes that are experienced by the bacteria and to
help reveal targets for agents that will interfere with
normal biofilm development.
http://biology.binghamton.edu/davies/
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