A Method for Quantitative Determination of Biofilm Viability
In this study we present a scheme for quantitative determination of biofilm viability offering significant improvement over existing methods with metabolic assays. Existing metabolic assays for quantifying viable bacteria in biofilms usually utilize calibration curves derived from planktonic bacteri...
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MDPI AG
2012-06-01
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Series: | Journal of Functional Biomaterials |
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Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2079-4983/3/2/418 |
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author | Maria Strømme Ken Welch Yanling Cai |
author_facet | Maria Strømme Ken Welch Yanling Cai |
author_sort | Maria Strømme |
collection | DOAJ |
description | In this study we present a scheme for quantitative determination of biofilm viability offering significant improvement over existing methods with metabolic assays. Existing metabolic assays for quantifying viable bacteria in biofilms usually utilize calibration curves derived from planktonic bacteria, which can introduce large errors due to significant differences in the metabolic and/or growth rates of biofilm bacteria in the assay media compared to their planktonic counterparts. In the presented method we derive the specific growth rate of <em>Streptococcus mutans</em> bacteria biofilm from a series of metabolic assays using the pH indicator phenol red, and show that this information could be used to more accurately quantify the relative number of viable bacteria in a biofilm. We found that the specific growth rate of <em>S. mutans</em> in biofilm mode of growth was 0.70 h<sup>−1</sup>, compared to 1.09 h<sup>−1</sup> in planktonic growth. This method should be applicable to other bacteria types, as well as other metabolic assays, and, for example, to quantify the effect of antibacterial treatments or the performance of bactericidal implant surfaces. |
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format | Article |
id | doaj.art-0402288ef4a84c259b54778b7d98cd29 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2079-4983 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-04-12T19:31:27Z |
publishDate | 2012-06-01 |
publisher | MDPI AG |
record_format | Article |
series | Journal of Functional Biomaterials |
spelling | doaj.art-0402288ef4a84c259b54778b7d98cd292022-12-22T03:19:20ZengMDPI AGJournal of Functional Biomaterials2079-49832012-06-013241843110.3390/jfb3020418A Method for Quantitative Determination of Biofilm ViabilityMaria StrømmeKen WelchYanling CaiIn this study we present a scheme for quantitative determination of biofilm viability offering significant improvement over existing methods with metabolic assays. Existing metabolic assays for quantifying viable bacteria in biofilms usually utilize calibration curves derived from planktonic bacteria, which can introduce large errors due to significant differences in the metabolic and/or growth rates of biofilm bacteria in the assay media compared to their planktonic counterparts. In the presented method we derive the specific growth rate of <em>Streptococcus mutans</em> bacteria biofilm from a series of metabolic assays using the pH indicator phenol red, and show that this information could be used to more accurately quantify the relative number of viable bacteria in a biofilm. We found that the specific growth rate of <em>S. mutans</em> in biofilm mode of growth was 0.70 h<sup>−1</sup>, compared to 1.09 h<sup>−1</sup> in planktonic growth. This method should be applicable to other bacteria types, as well as other metabolic assays, and, for example, to quantify the effect of antibacterial treatments or the performance of bactericidal implant surfaces.http://www.mdpi.com/2079-4983/3/2/418specific growth ratemetabolic activity assaybiofilm<em>Streptococcus mutans</em>phenol red |
spellingShingle | Maria Strømme Ken Welch Yanling Cai A Method for Quantitative Determination of Biofilm Viability Journal of Functional Biomaterials specific growth rate metabolic activity assay biofilm <em>Streptococcus mutans</em> phenol red |
title | A Method for Quantitative Determination of Biofilm Viability |
title_full | A Method for Quantitative Determination of Biofilm Viability |
title_fullStr | A Method for Quantitative Determination of Biofilm Viability |
title_full_unstemmed | A Method for Quantitative Determination of Biofilm Viability |
title_short | A Method for Quantitative Determination of Biofilm Viability |
title_sort | method for quantitative determination of biofilm viability |
topic | specific growth rate metabolic activity assay biofilm <em>Streptococcus mutans</em> phenol red |
url | http://www.mdpi.com/2079-4983/3/2/418 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT mariastrømme amethodforquantitativedeterminationofbiofilmviability AT kenwelch amethodforquantitativedeterminationofbiofilmviability AT yanlingcai amethodforquantitativedeterminationofbiofilmviability AT mariastrømme methodforquantitativedeterminationofbiofilmviability AT kenwelch methodforquantitativedeterminationofbiofilmviability AT yanlingcai methodforquantitativedeterminationofbiofilmviability |