Sticky subject could net major return

University of Otago PhD food sciences graduate Dr Brent Searle inspects a rack used to hold small plates under the surface of the ocean to monitor the growth of Undaria seaweed spores on surfaces. Photo by Linda Robertson.

All are scientists involved in a University of Otago collaboration trying to answer a basic question: what makes living organisms, particularly tiny ones such as bacteria, stick to wet surfaces?

And once they understand the principles of bioadhesion, the scientists, led by Prof Phil Bremer and Prof Jim McQuillan, hope to be able to produce a commercial product or products which will control that attachment.

Recent expansion into diverse research areas and the involvement of people across disciplines was bringing exciting results for the group, they said.

The global potential was vast, said Prof Bremer, head of the university's food sciences department.

"There there is enormous interest internationally in controlling fouling.

"But it's fair to say we are a way off that yet."

Ship and boat owners, including the military and oil companies, want products which keep hulls clear of algae, clams, barnacles and other marine life.

The cleaner a ship's hull, the faster and more efficiently the vessel performs.

Prof Bremer said a report from the US Navy showed increased friction because of fouling on hulls was costing more than $1 billion a year in increased fuel usage.

Food processors want ways of keeping factory equipment cleaner for longer and ensuring safer, bacteria-free products.

Otago PhD graduate Dr Brent Searle has has just completed a Fonterra-sponsored PhD project investigating how and why bacterial spores attach to stainless steel in milk powder plants, findings which may lead to a product to reduce the speed at which bacteria attach.

Health professionals are keen to know how and why bacteria attach themselves to surgical and dental implants.

Another Otago PhD student is studying this topic with the aim of producing a product to enhance the sterility of implants.

Not everyone wants to stop organisms sticking to wet surfaces.

Mussel farmers, for example, would like to have a product to encourage tiny mussel spat to settle on the growing surfaces provided in their mussel farms.

Chemistry professor Jim McQuillan is studying mussel adhesion with the goal of developing more effective spat catching and retaining ropes.

Most recently, his experiments have revealed the chemistry involved in the earliest stage of settlement of 0.2 micrometre mussel larvae.

The research with the most commercial potential was developing a coating for ship hulls, they said.