Abstract:
The growth of biofilm is a major problem in many industrial and health related settings, as it is the major cause of hospital infections and manufacturing production disruptions, for example.
In this talk, I describe several mechanisms involved in the differentiation of biofilm-forming bacteria and the formation of heterogeneous biofilm structures. In particular, I use mathematical models and analysis to describe possible mechanisms for quorum sensing, for movement of bacteria in a gel, for starvation induced formation of heterogeneous structures and for the formation of low density channels in biofilms.