The interactions of microbes with surfaces are important to many natural and engineered processes, affecting a wide range of applications from decontamination of surfaces or drinking water, prevention of microbial colonization of biomaterials, and bacterial processes in the environment. Therefore, there is great interest in understanding the fundamental behavior of microbes at surfaces. Topics are included that address interactions of cells with a number of surfaces for antifouling and microbial cell-based sensor applications; mechanistic studies of antimicrobial peptides and quorum sensing; exploration of experimental and theoretical models of a cell surface; cell surface display of peptides and enzymes as biofabrication techniques; the fate and transport of bacteria in the natural environment, as well as new experimental tools or modeling techniques to study interactions at the microbial surface.
While most of the papers are geared towards a specific application, they all contain fundamental information regarding bacterial behavior at interfaces that allows their contents to translate to other problems, as well. For example, many parallels are noted between the way bacteria interact with proteins-coated polymers on a catheter and bacterial-peptide interactions in a cellular detection assay. An overlying theme of all the manuscripts is that they represent studies of microbial interfaces using the most sophisticated experimental and modeling tools available, and many feature interdisciplinary approaches to tackling the given problems.

This book presents research into chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) defense and environmental security, exploring practical implications of the research. Contributions from a diverse group of international civilian researchers present the latest work on nanotechnology problems in this area, looking at detection, protective technologies, decontamination and threats to environmental security due to bacteriophages and nanomaterials. Highlights include the potential of Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) to characterize the nanoscale properties of microbial pathogens, the development of bacteriophage-based therapeutics, prophylactic and diagnostic preparations and their uses in different fields, such as medicine, veterinary, agriculture, food and water safety, amongst others. Readers may also consider an inexpensive bioassay suited for assessing chemical poisoning in the environment such as the presence of pesticides, sensors to detect ultra-trace quantities of the explosive Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) using nanotubes and electrochemical sensors to simultaneously detect and reduce the explosive trinitrotoluene (TNT) to 2,4,6-triaminotoluene (TAT) in solution. This book shows how cooperative research among NATO countries and NATO partners can make a critical contribution to meeting the opportunities and challenges of nanotechnology problems relevant to chemical and biological defense needs. The papers presented here are representative of contributions made to the Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) on September 22-26, 2014 in Antalya, Turkey, to address the NATO SPS Key Priority of Defense against CBRN Agents and Environmental Security.

This book presents research into chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) defense and environmental security, exploring practical implications of the research. Contributions from a diverse group of international civilian researchers present the latest work on nanotechnology problems in this area, looking at detection, protective technologies, decontamination and threats to environmental security due to bacteriophages and nanomaterials. Highlights include the potential of Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) to characterize the nanoscale properties of microbial pathogens, the development of bacteriophage-based therapeutics, prophylactic and diagnostic preparations and their uses in different fields, such as medicine, veterinary, agriculture, food and water safety, amongst others. Readers may also consider an inexpensive bioassay suited for assessing chemical poisoning in the environment such as the presence of pesticides, sensors to detect ultra-trace quantities of the explosive Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) using nanotubes and electrochemical sensors to simultaneously detect and reduce the explosive trinitrotoluene (TNT) to 2,4,6-triaminotoluene (TAT) in solution. This book shows how cooperative research among NATO countries and NATO partners can make a critical contribution to meeting the opportunities and challenges of nanotechnology problems relevant to chemical and biological defense needs. The papers presented here are representative of contributions made to the Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) on September 22-26, 2014 in Antalya, Turkey, to address the NATO SPS Key Priority of Defense against CBRN Agents and Environmental Security.