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Biofilms

Bacterial Biofilms are everywhere

Bacterial Biofilms are everywhere

Bacterial biofilms are found everywhere at the interface between solids and liquid or gas. They can be both destructive, e.g. biofilms in the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis can cause life-threatening infections, and constructive, e.g. biofilms are used to extract nitrites and nitrates from waste water in some water treatment facilities. Understanding biofilms is critical to their control in order to prevent their harmful effects and better utilize their assets.

The Chopp group has studied such issues as cell-cell communication, growth under various flow conditions, biofilms in activated sludge reactors, and even explored the capability of biofilms to generate electricity while they remove nitrates from waste water.

A list of the papers related to biofilms are shown below.

Biofilm Articles

Author(s)Title/JournalYear
N. Ford and D. L. ChoppA Dimensionally Reduced Model of Biofilm Growth Within a Flow Cell, Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, 82(3):402020
A. Caruso, F. Boano, L. Ridolfi, D. L. Chopp, A. PackmanBiofilm-Induced Bioclogging Produces Sharp Interfaces in Hyporheic Flow, Redox Conditions and Microbial Community Structure, Geophysical Research Letters, 44:4917-49252017
X. Li, D.L. Chopp, W.A. Russin, P.T. Brannon, M. R. Parsek, A.I. PackmanIn Situ Biomineralization and Particle Deposition Distinctively Mediate Biofilm Susceptibility to Chlorine, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 82(10):2886-28922016
X. Li, D.L. Chopp, W.A. Russin, P.T. Brannon, M. R. Parsek, A.I. PackmanSpatial Patterns of Carbonate Biomineralization in Biofilms, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 81(21):7403-74102015
X. Li, J.L. Song, A. Culotti, W. Zhang, D.L. Chopp, N. Lu, A.I. PackmanMethods for Characterizing the Co-Development of Biofilm and Habitat Heterogeneity, Journal of Visualized Experiments, 972015
B. V. Merkey and D. L. ChoppModeling the Impact of Interspecies Competition on Performance of a Microbial Fuel Cell, Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, 76(6):1429-14532014
B. S. Tseng, W. Zhang, J. J. Harrison, T. P. Quach, J. L. Song, J. Penterman, P. K. Singh, D. L. Chopp, A. I. Packman, and M. R. Parsek. The Extracellular Matrix Protects Pseudomonas aerguinosa Biofilms by Limiting the Penetration of Tobramycin, Environmental Microbiology, 15(10):2865-28782013
B. V. Merkey and D. L. ChoppThe Performance of a Microbial Fuel Cell Depends Strongly on Anode Geometry: A Multidimensional Modeling Study, Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, 74:834-8572012
D. L. Chopp, V. Rawlani, M. Ellis, S. A. Johnson, S. Khan, K. Bethke, N. Hansen, J. YS KimA Geometric Analysis of Mastectomy Incisions: Optimizing Intraoperative Breast Volume, Canadian Journal of Plastic Surgery, 19(2):45-502011
B. L. Vaughan, B. G. Smith, D.L. ChoppThe Influence of Fluid Flow on Modeling Quorum Sensing in Bacterial Biofilms, Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, 72(5):1143-11652010
B. Merkey, B. E. Rittmann, and D.L. ChoppModeling How Soluble Microbial Products (SMP) Support Heterotrophs in Autotroph-Based Biofilms, Journal of Theoretical Biology, 259:670-6832009
R. Duddu, D.L. Chopp, and B. MoranA Two-Dimensional Continuum Model of Biofilm Growth Incorporating Fluid Flow and Shear Stress Based Detachment, Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 103(1):92-1042009
R. Duddu, S. Bordas, D. L. Chopp, and B. MoranA combined extended finite element and level set method for biofilm growth. International Journal of Numerical Methods in Engineering, 74(5):848-8702008
B. G. Smith, B. L. Vaughan, and D. L. ChoppThe extended finite element method for boundary layer problems in biofilm growth, Communications in Applied Mathematics and Computational Science, 2(1):35-562007
M. J. Kirisits, J. Margolis, B. L. Purevdorj-Gage, B. Vaughan, D. L. Chopp, P. Stoodley, and M. R. ParsekThe influence of the hydrodynamic environment on quorum sensing in Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms, Journal of Bacteriology, 189(22):8357-83602007
J. D. Shrout, D. L. Chopp, C. L. Just, M. Hentzer, M. Givskov, and M. R. ParsekThe impact of quorum sensing and swarming motility on Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm formation is nutritionally conditional. Molecular Microbiology, 62(5):1264-12772006
D. L. Chopp, M. J. Kirisits, M. R. Parsek, and B. MoranThe dependence of quorum sensing on the depth of a growing biofilm. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, 65(6):1053-10792003
D. L. Chopp, M. J. Kirisits, M. R. Parsek, and B. MoranA mathematical model of quorum sensing in a growing P. aeruginosa biofilm. Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology, 29(6):339-3462002