Movement of potentially-pathogenic bacteria through the environment is influenced by whether they are free-floating or attached to environmental particles. We have previously reported that bacterial attachment is associated with antibiotic resistance. Our current efforts are focused on identification of the genetic factors that control bacterial attachment.
Ping Liu (PhD, microbiology) has previously worked on this project and Chunyu Liao (PhD, microbiology) has recently joined our team as part of this effort. This work is a collaboration with Michelle Soupir (Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering), Michael Thompson (Department of Agronomy), Cathy Logue (College of Veterinary Medicine) and Lisa Nolan (College of Veterinary Medicine). Current project funding is from The University of Iowa’s CHEEC program and ISU’s Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture.
Graph caption: Significant association between quartz attachment and combined resistance to amoxicillin (AMX), streptomycin (STP), tetracycline (TET), sulfamethazine (SMZ), tyrosine (TYL) and chlortetracycline (CTC). We measure a percent attachment to quartz for each strain; the y-axis shows the median value for the indicated population. (Liu et al, AEM 2011).
Laura Jarboe’s other chemical engineering project
