Radical approach benefits slime control technology

Two Australian research centres are joining their forces in a radical approach to biofilm control.

The Environmental Biotechnology CRC (EBCRC) and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Free Radical Chemistry and Biochemistry (Free Radical Centre) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will see them work together to improve technology that initiates biofilm formation and dispersal.

The two centres will combine their strengths to more fully explore the effects of cell-signalling processes within biofilms. Nitric oxide is a free radical that has been proven to disperse established biofilms and prevent the formation of new ones. It plays a key role in many biological processes and may hold a key to the control of pathogens harbouring in bacterial biofilms.

The technology will be applicable across many industries from wastewater to the health sector. For example, the technology will reduce corrosion and fouling in pipe and membrane systems and has potential for use in both medical implant coatings and infection control in health care settings.

“This agreement lays the foundations for cooperation that integrates the fundamental knowledge developed by the Free Radical Centre with the research interests of the EBCRC in a manner that will provide significant benefits to Australian industry and the environment; areas of strategic importance to Australia,” said Professor Carl Schiesser, director of the Free Radical Centre and professor of chemistry at the University of Melbourne.