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SUMMARY:On growth and flow: bacterial biofilms in porous environments - Ma
 ck Durham\, Department of Zoology\, University of Oxford
DTSTART:20141114T140000Z
DTEND:20141114T150000Z
UID:TALK55269@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr Eileen Nugent
DESCRIPTION:The majority of bacteria live in porous substrates like soil\,
  sediments\, and aquifers. In this talk\, I present laboratory experiments
  and mathematical models that illustrate how flow through these porous env
 ironments affects the ecology of bacteria. When we inoculate cells in poro
 us microfluidic devices\, we find they form biofilm patches that undergo a
  self-organization mediated by the interaction of growth and flow. At inte
 rmediate flow rates this interaction triggers the formation of preferentia
 l flow channels\, which limit biofilm respiration rates.  A simple network
  model\, which captures the underlying physics\, corroborates our experime
 ntal results.  We then use this system to determine how pore scale hydrody
 namics impact the competition between bacterial genotypes that grow at dif
 ferent rates. By combining a mechanistic model with game theory\, we predi
 ct that porous media flow selects for bacteria with an ‘evolutionarily s
 table’ growth rate\, which outcompete cells that grow either more quickl
 y or more slowly. Our findings stand in sharp contrast to the commonly hel
 d assumption that a bacterial genotype’s fitness increases monotonically
  with its intrinsic growth rate. 
LOCATION:Mott Seminar Room (531)\, Cavendish Laboratory\, Department of Ph
 ysics
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