Download Talks on bacteria and biofilms

Talks on
BACTERIA and BIOFILMS
Talk 1. Strategies for Prevention and
Treatment of Biofilms
Professor Rikke Louise Meyer, Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Centre,
Aarhus University Denmark
Time: Monday, May 29th at 1400
“ Bacteria are tiny living things that like to attach to surfaces. Most bacteria are harmless, but if the
harmful bacteria get into the human body where they do not belong, they can cause an infection.
Infections make the human body very sick. Most infections with bacteria can be cured by antibiotics, but
not infections caused by biofilms! Biofilms are communities of bacteria living together and covered in
protective sticky goo, and most antibiotics do not work against them. Here, we explain how biofilms
protect bacteria from antibiotics, and what we can do to fight with these long-term infections.1
1. 
Okshevsky M and Louise Meyer R (2016) Big Bad Biofilms: How Communities of Bacteria
Cause Long-Term Infections. Front Young Minds. 4:14. doi: 10.3389/frym.2016.00014
”
Talk 2. The world of Mycobacteria Expectations and Surprises
Professor Leif A. Kirsebom at Department of Cell and Molecular
Biology, Structural and Molecular Biology,Uppsala RNA Research
Centre – URRC. Director at Uppsala Biomedical Centre, BMCintendenturen
Time: Monday, May 29th at 1500
The Mycobacterium genus lists 174 species and the number is increasing. The genus includes nonpathogenic environmental bacteria, opportunistic and highly successful pathogens such as M.
tuberculosis that causes tuberculosis. Mycobacteria are divided into rapidly and slow growing
mycobacteria. They are acid fast, robust and can inhabit various environmental reservoirs and can be
present in food and appear to have a growth advantage in water containing disinfecting agents.
Mycobacteria can be invasive, can cause latent infections and they form aggregates and biofilms, and
show changes in their cell shape during growth and some can form spores. We have undertaken a
systematic global approach to understand the biology of this important group of bacteria with special
emphasis on its adaptive abilities under stress and changes in cell morphology. Genome data,
comparative genomic analysis, gene expression under different growth conditions for selected
mycobacterial species will be presented and discussed
Location:
Swedish Medical Nanoscience Center
Seminar Room, Department of Neuroscience,
Scheeles väg 1, Solna Campus