We hypothesized that low concentrations of H2O2 could be generated through the electrochemical conversion of oxygen by applying an electric potential to a conductive scaffold and produce a low, but constant, concentration of H2O2 that would be sufficient to destroy biofilms. To test our hypothesis we used a multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii strain, because this species is often implicated in difficult-to-treat biofilm infections. We used conductive carbon fabric as the scaffold material (“e-scaffold”). In vitro experiments demonstrated the production of a maximum constant concentration of ~25 μM H2O2 near the e-scaffold surface. An e-scaffold was overlaid onto an existing A. baumannii biofilm, and within 24 h there was a ~4-log reduction in viable bacteria with an ~80% decrease in biofilm surface coverage. A similar procedure was used to overlay an e-scaffold onto an existing A. baumannii biofilm that was grown on a porcine explant. After 24 h, there was a ~3-log reduction in viable bacteria from the infected porcine explants with no observable damage to the underlying mammalian tissue based on a viability assay and histology. This research establishes a novel foundation for an alternative antibiotic-free wound dressing to eliminate biofilms.

Accurate description of gas adsorption and diffusion in nanoporous materials is crucial in envisioning new materials for adsorption-based and membrane-based gas separations. This study provides the first information about the equilibrium and transport properties of different gas mixtures in a bio-metal organic framework (bio-MOF). Adsorption isotherms and self-diffusivity coefficients of CH 4 , CO 2 , H 2 , and their binary mixtures in bio-MOF-11 were computed using grand canonical Monte Carlo and equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations. Results showed that bio-MOF-11 exhibits significantly higher adsorption selectivity for CO 2 over CH 4 and H 2 than the widely studied MOFs. Bio-MOF-11 outperforms several isoreticular MOFs, traditional zeolites, and zeolite imidazolate frameworks in membrane-based separations of CH 4 /H 2 , CO 2 /CH 4 , and CO 2 / H 2 mixtures due to its high gas permeability and permeation selectivity. The methods used in this work will assess the potential of bio-MOFs in gas separations and accelerate development of new bio-MOFs for targeted applications by providing molecular insights into adsorption and transport of gas mixtures.

Zeolite imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) offer considerable potential for gas separation applications due to their tunable pore sizes, large surface areas, high pore volumes, and good thermal and mechanical stabilities. Although a significant number of ZIFs has been synthesized in the powder form to date, very little is currently known about the potential performance of ZIFs for membranebased gas separation applications. In this work, we used atomically detailed calculations to predict the performance of 15 different ZIF materials both in adsorption-based and membrane-based separations of CH 4 /H 2 , CO 2 /CH 4 , and CO 2 /H 2 mixtures. We predicted adsorption-based selectivity, working capacity, membrane-based selectivity, and gas permeability of ZIFs. Our results identified several ZIFs that can outperform traditional zeolite membranes and widely studied metal organic framework membranes in CH 4 /H 2 , CO 2 /CH 4 , and CO 2 / H 2 separation processes. Finally, the accuracy of the mixing theories estimating mixture adsorption and diffusion based on single component data was tested.

fWe developed a porcine dermal explant model to determine the extent to which Staphylococcus aureus biofilm communities deplete oxygen, change pH, and produce damage in underlying tissue. Microelectrode measurements demonstrated that dissolved oxygen (DO) in biofilm-free dermal tissue was 4.45 ؎ 1.17 mg/liter, while DO levels for biofilm-infected tissue declined sharply from the surface, with no measurable oxygen detectable in the underlying dermal tissue. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated that biofilm-free dermal tissue had a significantly lower relative effective diffusion coefficient (0.26 ؎ 0.09 to 0.30 ؎ 0.12) than biofilm-infected dermal tissue (0.40 ؎ 0.12 to 0.48 ؎ 0.12; P < 0.0001). Thus, the difference in DO level was attributable to biofilm-induced oxygen demand rather than changes in oxygen diffusivity. Microelectrode measures showed that pH within biofilm-infected explants was more alkaline than in biofilm-free explants (8.0 ؎ 0.17 versus 7.5 ؎ 0.15, respectively; P < 0.002). Cellular and nuclear details were lost in the infected explants, consistent with cell death. Quantitative label-free shotgun proteomics demonstrated that both proapoptotic programmed cell death protein 5 and antiapoptotic macrophage migration inhibitory factor accumulated in the infected-explant spent medium, compared with uninfected-explant spent media (1,351-fold and 58-fold, respectively), consistent with the cooccurrence of apoptosis and necrosis in the explants. Biofilm-origin proteins reflected an extracellular matrix-adapted lifestyle of S. aureus. S. aureus biofilms deplete oxygen, increase pH, and induce cell death, all factors that contribute to impede wound healing.

Productivity is a major determinant of ecosystem diversity. Microbial ecosystems are the most diverse on the planet yet very few relationships between diversity and productivity have been reported as compared with macro-ecological studies. Here we evaluated the spatial relationships of productivity and microbiome diversity in a laboratory-cultivated photosynthetic mat. The goal was to determine how spatial diversification of microorganisms drives localized carbon and energy acquisition rates. We measured sub-millimeter depth profiles of net primary productivity and gross oxygenic photosynthesis in the context of the localized microenvironment and community structure, and observed negative correlations between species richness and productivity within the energyreplete, photic zone. Variations between localized community structures were associated with distinct taxa as well as environmental profiles describing a continuum of biological niches. Spatial regions in the photic zone corresponding to high primary productivity and photosynthesis rates had relatively low-species richness and high evenness. Hence, this system exhibited negative speciesproductivity and species-energy relationships. These negative relationships may be indicative of stratified, light-driven microbial ecosystems that are able to be the most productive with a relatively smaller, even distributions of species that specialize within photic zones.

In this work, we introduced atomic models for transport of single component gases (CH 4 , CO 2 , H 2 , and N 2 ) and binary gas mixtures (H 2 /CO 2 , H 2 /N 2 , H 2 /CH 4 ) in zeolite imidazolate framework (ZIF) membranes and ZIF/polymer composite membranes. The predictions of atomic models were validated by comparing with the available experimental data for a ZIF-90 membrane. Motivated from the good agreement between experimental measurements and predictions of our molecular simulations for single gas and mixture permeances, we extended atomic modeling methods to an unfabricated ZIF membrane, ZIF-65, for predicting its separation performance. Various selectivities of ZIF membranes such as ideal selectivity, mixture selectivity, adsorption selectivity, and diffusion selectivity were computed for a wide range of operating conditions to assess the potential of ZIF membranes in H 2 /CO 2 separations. We then combined atomic simulations with continuum modeling to estimate the performance of ZIF-90/Matrimid and ZIF-90/Ultem composite membranes for gas separations. Our theoretical predictions agreed very well with the experimental measurements for these two composite membranes, and therefore, we assessed the performances of several ZIF/polymer membranes composed of various polymers, ZIF-90 and ZIF-65, for separation of H 2 from CO 2 .

Hyperosmotic agents such as maltodextrin negatively impact bacterial growth through osmotic stress without contributing to drug resistance. We hypothesized that a combination of maltodextrin (osmotic agent) and vancomycin (antibiotic) would be more effective against Staphylococcus aureus biofilms than either alone. To test our hypothesis, S. aureus was grown in a flat plate flow cell reactor. Confocal laser scanning microscopy images were analyzed to quantify changes in biofilm structure. We used dissolved oxygen microelectrodes to quantify how vancomycin and maltodextrin affected the respiration rate and oxygen penetration into the biofilm. We found that treatment with vancomycin or maltodextrin altered biofilm structure. The effect on the structure was significant when they were used simultaneously to treat S. aureus biofilms. In addition, vancomycin treatment increased the oxygen respiration rate, while maltodextrin treatment caused an increase and then a decrease. An increased maltodextrin concentration decreased the diffusivity of the antibiotic. Overall, we conclude that (1) an increased maltodextrin concentration decreases vancomycin diffusion but increases the osmotic effect, leading to the optimum treatment condition, and (2) the combination of vancomycin and maltodextrin is more effective against S. aureus biofilms than either alone. Vancomycin and maltodextrin act together to increase the effectiveness of treatment against S. aureus biofilm growth.

Phototrophic microbial mats frequently exhibit sharp, light-dependent redox gradients that regulate microbial respiration on specific electron acceptors as a function of depth. In this work, a benthic phototrophic microbial mat from Hot Lake, a hypersaline, epsomitic lake located near Oroville in north-central Washington, was used to develop a microscale electrochemical method to study local electron transfer processes within the mat. To characterize the physicochemical variables influencing electron transfer, we initially quantified redox potential, pH, and dissolved oxygen gradients by depth in the mat under photic and aphotic conditions. We further demonstrated that power output of a mat fuel cell was light-dependent. To study local electron transfer processes, we deployed a microscale electrode (microelectrode) with tip size ~20 μm. To enrich a subset of microorganisms capable of interacting with the microelectrode, we anodically polarized the microelectrode at depth in the mat. Subsequently, to characterize the microelectrode-associated community and compare it to the neighboring mat community, we performed amplicon sequencing of the V1–V3 region of the 16S gene. Differences in Bray-Curtis beta diversity, illustrated by large changes in relative abundance at the phylum level, suggested successful enrichment of specific mat community members on the microelectrode surface. The microelectrode-associated community exhibited substantially reduced alpha diversity and elevated relative abundances of Prosthecochloris, Loktanella, Catellibacterium, other unclassified members of Rhodobacteraceae, Thiomicrospira, and Limnobacter, compared with the community at an equivalent depth in the mat. Our results suggest that local electron transfer to an anodically polarized microelectrode selected for a specific microbial population, with substantially more abundance and diversity of sulfur-oxidizing phylotypes compared with the neighboring mat community.