Key publications

Bacteria use spatial sensing to direct chemotaxis on surfaces

Unlike all previously characterised bacteria, we show here that surface-attached bacterial cells can sense chemical gradients along the length of their cell bodies, a capability previously thought restricted to larger eukaryotic cells.

Wheeler JHR, Foster KR, Durham WM. Nat. Micro., 2024.

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Suicidal chemotaxis in bacteria

Here we show that surface-attached bacteria move towards – rather than away from – competitor-derived antibiotics and express their own weapons systems in a suicidal counter-attack manoeuvre.

Oliveira NM*, Wheeler JHR*, Deroy C, Booth SC, Walsh EJ, Durham WM, Foster KR. Nat. Comm. 2022.

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Reconfigurable microfluidic circuits for isolating and retrieving cells of interest

Here we developed a novel methodology for microscope-guided, real-time dissection of microfluidic channels to extract specific cell populations from within developing biofilms for downstream analyses.

Deroy C*, Wheeler JHR*, Rumianek AN, Cook PR, Durham WM, Foster KR, Walsh EJ. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2022.

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Microfluidics with fluid walls

In this paper, we developed a novel type of microfluidic device made with fluid walls that overcomes many of the key limitations of traditional, solid-walled devices.

Walsh EJ, Feuerborn A*, Wheeler JHR*, Na Tan A, Durham WM, Foster KR, Cook PR. Nat. Comm. 2017.

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Want to keep reading?

For a complete list of publications, please visit our research outputs page on the University of Liverpool website.