Kurt Piepenbrink
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, NE·Biophysics
Bacteria often live together in biofilms, slimy communities stuck to surfaces that help them survive conditions single cells could not. DNA released outside the cell, called extracellular DNA (eDNA), helps hold these biofilms together and can also give bacteria new genes.
- Fields
Biophysics
Microbiology & Immunology
Biochemistry
- Topics
biofilm
extracellular DNA
eDNA
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jun 2027
What they work on
- Identify which subunits of bacterial surface fibers act as extracellular DNA receptors in Gram-positive Clostridioides and Gram-negative Acinetobacter species.
- Purify soluble versions of candidate DNA receptor proteins and measure how tightly they bind DNA, to compare how strongly different receptors recognize extracellular DNA.
- Determine the atomic structures of these receptors bound to DNA by X-ray crystallography, to show which molecular contacts allow DNA recognition.
- Learn how DNA receptors are built into surface fibers by isolating fibers made naturally by the bacteria and rebuilding them with purified soluble protein complexes.
More about the research
Bacteria grab this DNA with hair-like protein fibers that stick out from their surface. Scientists know the basic shape of these fibers, but not which of their protein parts bind DNA or how. This project aims to find those DNA-binding proteins and describe, atom by atom, how they hold onto DNA and help build biofilms.
Why it matters
Biofilms let bacteria persist in hard conditions, which makes them difficult to remove. By identifying the different DNA receptors that hold biofilms together in Clostridioides and Acinetobacter, this work could reveal biofilm-stabilizing mechanisms specific to particular bacteria. That knowledge may eventually allow interventions aimed at those specific bacteria.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
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Jochen Zimmer
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The school
University of Nebraska-Lincoln: 17 labs on PI Pages, $657M a year on research, 261 research doctorates a year.
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