Agnese Seminara

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Slimy bacterial coatings known as biofilms (Bacillus subtilis colony superimposed at center) exhibit an unmatched ability to repel a wide range of liquids and even vapors. An electron microscope image shows the biofilm surface's resilient meshwork made from proteins and polysaccharides and assembled into a multiscale, hierarchical structure.

Slimy secrets

Biofilm finding may provide new direction in antimicrobial research

Science|

DateJanuary 7, 2011March 15, 2019

“These findings could have implications for methods of controlling the spread of fungal pathogens,” said senior author Anne Pringle, associate professor of organismic and evolutionary biology at Harvard. “Sclerotinia alone costs U.S. farmers $1 billion annually, including costs of controlling the fungus, and crop losses. Research directed at understanding how to disrupt the cooperative ejection of spores may provide novel tools for the control of these fungal pathogens.”

More from spores: How they spread

Study shows how fungi launch them to surf on wind they create

Health|

DateSeptember 27, 2010March 13, 2019