Michael S. Waters, Ph.D.

Research Interests:

• Medical and environmental microbiology and ecology with emphasis on biofilms.
• Microbiological response to physiologically and metabolically relevant surfaces.
• Characterization of bacterial response to artificial antimicrobial surfaces.
• Microbially Influenced Demineralization/Corrosion.
• Multimodal in vivo, spatially resolved, quantitative biofilm imaging.
• Method and tool development of culturing platforms for continuous in vivo biofilm imaging.
• Bacterial Two-Component Signal Transduction Systems.
• Intraspecies and interspecies bacterial communication… e.g. quorum sensing.
• Characterization of the biomechanical properties of biofilms.
• The physical and molecular responses of biofilms to mechanical stimuli.
• Metagenomics.
• Development of ultra-sensitive bacterial based indicator tools.
• Targeted antibiotic development.
• Development methods that promote synergistic co-existence with non-pathogenic biofilms.

Non-NIST Publications:

M. S. Waters, M. Y. El-Naggar, L. Hsu, C. A. Sturm, A. Luttge, F. E. Udwadia, D. G. Cvitkovitch, S. D. Goodman, K. H. Nealson. 2009. “Simultaneous interferometric measurement of corrosive/demineralizing bacteria and their mineral interface.” Appl. Environ. Microbiol. doi:10.1128/AEM.02039-08.

M. S. Waters, E. C. Salas, S. D. Goodman, F. E. Udwadia, and K. H. Nealson. 2009. “Early detection of oxidized surfaces using Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 as a tool.” Biofouling. 25: p. 163-172.

M. S. Waters, C. A. Sturm, M. Y. El-Naggar, A. Luttge, F. E. Udwadia, D. G. Cvitkovitch, S. D. Goodman, K. H. Nealson. 2008. “In search of the microbe/mineral interface: quantitative analysis of bacteria on metal surfaces using vertical scanning interferometry.” Geobiology. 6: p. 254-262.

D. Raju, M. Waters, P. Setlow and M. R. Sarker. 2006. “Investigating the role of small, acid-soluble spore proteins (SASPs) n the resistance of Clostridium perfringens spores to heat.” BMC Microbiol. 8: p. 1-13.

M. Waters, Raju D., H. S. Garmory, M. R. Popoff, M. R. Sarker. 2005. “Regulated expression of the beta2-toxin gene (cpb2) in Clostridium perfringens type A isolates from horses with gastrointestinal diseases.” J. Clin. Microbiol.43: p. 4002-4009.

I. Huang, M. Waters, R. Grau and M. Sarker. 2003. “Characterization and functional analysis of spo0A in enterotoxigenic Clostridium perfringens type A.” FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 15: p. 233-240.

M. Waters, A. Savoie, H. Garmory, D. Bueschel, M. Popoff, J. Songer, R. Titball, B. McClane and M. Sarker 2003. “Genotyping and phenotyping of beta2-toxigenic Clostridium perfringens fecal isolates associated with gastrointestinal diseases in piglets.” J. Clin. Microbiol. 41: p. 3584-3591.