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  • E. coli biofilm formation a...
    Lisac, Ana; Birsa, Elfi; Podgornik, Aleš

    Microbial Biotechnology, September 2022, Letnik: 15, Številka: 9
    Journal Article

    Summary A system consisting of a connected mixed and tubular bioreactor was designed to study bacterial biofilm formation and the effect of its exposure to bacteriophages under different experimental conditions. The bacterial biofilm inside silicone tubular bioreactor was formed during the continuous pumping of bacterial cells at a constant physiological state for 2 h and subsequent washing with a buffer for 24 h. Monitoring bacterial and bacteriophage concentration along the tubular bioreactor was performed via a piercing method. The presence of biofilm and planktonic cells was demonstrated by combining the piercing method, measurement of planktonic cell concentration at the tubular bioreactor outlet, and optical microscopy. The planktonic cell formation rate was found to be 8.95 × 10−3 h−1 and increased approximately four‐fold (4×) after biofilm exposure to an LB medium. Exposure of bacterial biofilm to bacteriophages in the LB medium resulted in a rapid decrease of biofilm and planktonic cell concentration, to below the detection limit within < 2 h. When bacteriophages were supplied in the buffer, only a moderate decrease in the concentration of both bacterial cell types was observed. After biofilm washing with buffer to remove unadsorbed bacteriophages, its exposure to the LB medium (without bacteriophages) resulted in a rapid decrease in bacterial concentration: again below the detection limit in < 2 h. In this article we present flow‐through system allowing formation and characterization of bacterial biofilms together with their susceptibly toward bacteriophages. We were able to determine generation rate of planktonic cells released by formed biofilm as well as bacteriophages efficiency in biofilm eradication in the presence of nutrients and under substrate limitation. It was demonstrated that bacteriophages infect biofilm in both environments but they are efficient in biofilm lysis only in the presence of bacteria nutrients