microbesadapt.com

Welcome to the McNealy Lab Website at Clemson University!

Adaptability: Microbes inhabit every possible niche on our planet. Through numerous and varied mechanisms, they have adapted to each environment our planet and the occupants of the planet have to offer. This adaptability also allows many environmental microbes to be opportunistic pathogens of humans. The environmental factors that alter or exert pressure on these potential human pathogens are what we seek to understand. How do specific biotic and abiotic factors change environmental biofilm life? How do these biofilms interact with ecosystem flora and what are man-made impacts doing to the microbial base of this ecosystem?

In particular, we study two microbes which cause opportunistic disease in humans: Francisella tularensis and Legionella pneumophila. These particular strains can be found in water environments in biofilms and in association with protozoa. Their mechanisms of interaction within human host cells and their pathogenicity are very different, but the ecology which drives the maintenance of these mechanisms may be similar. On our research page you will find more information about the investigations we're doing to try to learn the environmental secrets of these pathogens.

Our current research has recently expanded to encompass the field of Nanotechnology. In our recent publication in Nanotoxicology we show how contamination of environmental biofilms of Legionella pneumophila alters the morphology and leads to biofilm disruption. We are continuing to research these interactions to determine exactly what mechanisms induce or control this effect and to determine if this effect is seen with other environmental biofilms. These studies will not only tell us about nanoparticle interaction with microbial biofilms, but also help us understand basic biofilm mechanics and cycles.