E. coli biofilm adhesion to porous and nonporous surfaces in spaceflight conditions

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dc.contributor.advisorSerrano, Daniel
dc.contributor.authorRaghu, Apurva
dc.contributor.authorFang, Michelle
dc.contributor.authorAdam, Debbie
dc.contributor.authorGooya, Niki
dc.contributor.authorKeppetipola, Pali
dc.date.accessioned2020-04-26T20:45:00Z
dc.date.available2020-04-26T20:45:00Z
dc.date.issued2020
dc.description.abstractBiofilms are communities of microorganisms that have the capacity to facilitate the development of diseases. Previous literature has found that biofilm growth is affected by surface properties: for example, in some cases there is reduced biofilm formation on porous surfaces compared to non-porous surfaces. As humans continue to explore space, understanding the behavior of biofilms in spaceflight conditions will become critical. Research has indicated that bacterial colonies within microgravity environments exhibit atypical behaviors of increased growth and virulency. To help shed some light on these aspects of biofilm growth, our study analyzed the formation and adhesion of E. coli on porous and nonporous 99.99% aluminum on Earth and in space. The experiment was conducted both on Earth and at the International Space Station to determine if the presence of gravity impacts biofilm physiology on these surfaces. E. coli growth on nonporous and porous aluminum were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Qualitative analysis reveals a possible size difference between the Earth and space bacteria. However, no significant qualitative differences were observed between gravity and microgravity samples on porous and nonporous aluminum surfaces. We are currently analyzing our samples to corroborate or invalidate the presence of structural differences on biofilms in porous vs. nonporous surfaces and Earth vs. space settings. Further research is required to assess the morphology of individual bacteria on these aforementioned materials and growth settings.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipTerps in Space, NCESSEen_US
dc.identifierhttps://doi.org/10.13016/qlha-cccj
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/25887
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.relation.isAvailableAtMaryland Center for Undergraduate Research
dc.relation.isAvailableAtDigital Repository at the University of Maryland
dc.relation.isAvailableAtUniversity of Maryland (College Park, Md)
dc.subjectPhysicsen_US
dc.subjectCMNSen_US
dc.subjectTerps in Space Mission 13en_US
dc.subjectTISen_US
dc.subjectbiofilmen_US
dc.subjectaluminumen_US
dc.subjectE. colien_US
dc.titleE. coli biofilm adhesion to porous and nonporous surfaces in spaceflight conditionsen_US
dc.typePresentationen_US

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