Postdoctoral Researcher - Biofilm research in Laboratory of biology of yeast colonies

Biofilms are complex, highly organized three-dimensional (3D) structures formed by various microbes (bacteria, yeasts and others). Due to their enormous resistance to external influences, they represent a very dangerous contamination of surfaces in biomedicine (e.g. on catheters, implants, prostheses, etc.) as well as in industry (e.g. in water reservoirs and other pipelines), where they can cause serious diseases or block the functionality of the respective devices. Biofilm life-cycle includes cell adhesion to solid surface, followed by a formation of a 3D structure and maturation of the complex biofilm, which is highly resistant to external influences (including drugs). Our team's long-term research focuses on investigating the molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in the development and differentiation of spatially organized yeast structures (biofilms and colonies).

In the project, different variants of functional micro- and nanostructured surfaces of relevant materials produced by laser will be tested for microbial adhesion and subsequent biofilm formation. Selected variants will then be examined for molecular mechanisms of the relationship between the strength of cell adhesion (a key parameter for biofilm formation) and the structure of the mature biofilm.

Web pages of the research group:

https://web.natur.cuni.cz/~zdenap/
https://www.biocev.eu/en/research/cellular-biology-and-virology.4/molecular-and-cellular-biology-of-yeast-population-interaction-signalling-and-differentiation.41