Developing New Marine Antifouling Surfaces: Learning from Single-Strain Laboratory Tests

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2021

Authors

Sara I. Faria (Author) Other; Luciana Gomes (Author) FEUP; Rita Teixeira Santos (Author) FEUP; João Morais (Author) Other; Vitor Vasconcelos (Author) FCUP; Filipe Mergulhão (Author) FEUP

Journal

Title: Coatings

Vol. 11

Pages: 1-11

ISSN: 2079-6412

Publisher: MDPI

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 9 Citations

Scopus - 12 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00T-ASG

DOI: 10.3390/coatings11010090

Abstract (EN): The development of antifouling (AF) technology for marine environments is an area of intense research given the severe economic and ecological effects of marine biofouling. Preliminary data from in vitro assays is frequently used to screen the performance of AF coatings. It is intuitive that microbial composition plays a major role in surface colonization. The rationale behind this study is to investigate whether using a mixed population for the in vitro tests yields substantially different results than using single strains during initial screening. A polymeric coating was tested against single- and dual-species cultures of two common microfouler organisms for 49 days. A bacterium (Pseudoaltermonas tunicata) and a cyanobacterium (Cyanobium sp. LEGE 10375) were used in this study. Linear regression analysis revealed that Cyanobium sp. biofilms were significantly associated with a higher number of cells, wet weight, thickness, and biovolume compared to dual-species biofilms. P. tunicata alone had a biofilm growth kinetics similar to dual-species biofilms, although the P. tunicata-Cyanobium sp. mixture developed less dense and thinner biofilms compared to both single-species biofilms. Cyanobium sp. LEGE 10375 biofilms provided the worst-case scenario, i.e., the conditions that caused higher biofilm amounts on the surface material under test. Therefore, it is likely that assessing the AF performance of new coatings using the most stringent conditions may yield more robust results than using a mixed population, as competition between microfouler organisms may reduce the biofilm formation capacity of the consortium.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 11