Development of a Biophysical Model that Accounts for the Recently Discovered and Unique Gliding Motility Exhibited by the Bacterium Clostridium Perfringens

Wednesday, April 1, 2009
4:00 - 5:00 PM
Room 229, Norris Hall

Dr. Stephen Melville, Associate Professor of Microbiology
Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech

Clostridium perfringens is a bacterial pathogen that causes a large variety of human and animal diseases. Although this species lacks flagella and cannot swim in liquid, we recently discovered that these Gram-positive bacteria have type IV pili, which they use to glide across the surface of agar plates with a novel type of motility. Using video time-lapse microscopy and other tools, we have developed a mechanistic model that explains some of the characteristics of movement and the bacterial social behavior but the underlying mechanism of force generation that actually propels filaments of bacteria across the surface has been elusive. Alternative biophysical/biomechanical models have been proposed, but the experimental approach to resolving which model is the correct one has not been identified and can probably best be approached from a bio-engineering approach to the problem. This is of additional importance because we have also discovered that all of the pathogenic Clostridia, including the ones that cause botulism and tetanus use this type of motility

For more information on Dr. Melville's work please visit

http://www.biol.vt.edu/faculty/melville/

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