Super-Resolved Oxygen Sensing in Biofilms
Supervisors
Dr Robert M. Edkins, Strathclyde University
Dr Liam Rooney, University of Glasgow
Summary
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a pressing global issue with emerging severe consequences for human and animal health. Microbes routinely form protective communities, called biofilms, which also drive the emergence of AMR. Understanding how these biofilms transport micronutrients, particularly oxygen, will be key to understanding how this defense mechanism can be overcome by antimicrobials of the future. This project will develop luminescent oxygen sensors based on Ir and Ru complexes compatible with probing oxygen gradients within bacterial biofilms, delivering unprecedented temporal and spatial resolution using STED microscopy and lifetime imaging. Nutrient and antimicrobial challenges will be used to understand how bacteria respond through changes in oxygen distribution.
This project will provide an interdisciplinary training experience in synthetic chemistry for probe development, bacteriology, and state-of-the-art optical microscopy. There will be freedom to design sensors based on luminescent complexes, study their optical properties using time-resolved spectroscopy, apply the sensors to model biofilms, and gain hands-on experience with the latest super-resolution microscopes.