Studying bacterial adaptation by combining holographic optical tweezers, microscopy imaging and microfluidics

Bacteria are microscopic organisms that can be found in many environmental conditions, as e.g. in water, in soil, and in air. The capability for their remarkable environmental adaptation is mainly possible thanks to their plasma membrane, which serves as a protective interface between the cells and their environment, and to their membrane proteins, which sense and induce the corresponding response for bacterial adaptation.

Direct study of protein localization and dynamics during bacterial adaptation is of key importance for a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon. However, the spatiotemporal characterization of bacterial signal transduction demands very sensitive high-resolution microscopy techniques due to the low expression levels of most signaling proteins and the small size of bacterial cells.

The aim of this Master thesis is to develop an experimental scheme based on the combination of high resolution imaging, optical manipulation, and microfluidics, which enables the investigation of membrane protein dynamics in living bacteria while allows a controlled change of the environmental conditions.

This Master thesis is organized thematically into the ongoing research of the "optical tweezers" team of the group of Nonlinear Photonics. In our team, Bachelor, Master and PhD students discuss frequently about results, problems, scientific related articles and new ideas.

We are looking for committed students and students who are interested in biophysical applications of Photonics and want to work on current research.

Contact: If you are interested you can contact Álvaro Barroso who will be happy to show you our labs and present the offered thesis in the areas of optical micromanipulation.