Methods to study microbial adhesion on abiotic surfaces

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2015

Authors

Manuel Simões (Author) FEUP; Ana Meireles (Author) FEUP; Ana L. Gonçalves (Author) FEUP; Inês B. Gomes (Author) FEUP; Lúcia Chaves Simões (Author) FEUP

Journal

Title: AIMS Bioengineering

Vol. 2 No. 4

Pages: 297-309

Publisher: AIMS Press

Indexing

ISI Web of Science

DOAJ

EBSCO

Associated Projects

LEPAE/CEFT - RL2 - (Bio) Chemical Engineering: Multi-Scale Approaches for Sustainable Environment and Health

LEPABE - Laboratório de Engenharia de Processos, Ambiente, Biotecnologia e Energia

SUSCLEAN - Sustainable Cleaning and Disinfection in Fresh-Cut Food Industries

Other information

DOI: 10.3934/bioeng.2015.4.297

Abstract (EN): Microbial biofilms are a matrix of cells and exopolymeric substances attached to a wet and solid surface and are commonly associated to several problems, such as biofouling and corrosion in industries and infectious diseases in urinary catheters and prosthesis. However, these cells may have several benefits in distinct applications, such as wastewater treatment processes, microbial fuel cells for energy production and biosensors. As microbial adhesion is a key step on biofilm formation, it is very important to understand and characterize microbial adhesion to a surface. This study presents an overview of predictive and experimental methods used for the study of bacterial adhesion. Evaluation of surface physicochemical properties have a limited capacity in describing the complex adhesion process. Regarding the experimental methods, there is no standard method or platform available for the study of microbial adhesion and a wide variety of methods, such as colony forming units counting and microscopy techniques, can be applied for quantification and characterization of the adhesion process.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 13