Center for Biofilm Engineering
Abstract:
"The Formation of Migratory Ripples in a Mixed Species Bacterial
Biofilm Growing in Turbulent Flow"
99-023 Mixed-species biofilms,
consisting of Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Pseudomonas
fluorescens and stenotrophomonas maltophilia, were grown in glass
flow cells under either laminar or turbulent flow. The biofilms grown in laminar
flow consisted of roughly circular-shaped microcolonies separated by water
channels. In contrast, biofilm microcolonies grown in turbulent flow were
elongated in the downstream direction, forming filamentous ‘streamers’.
Moreover, biofilms growing in turbulent flow developed extensive patches of
ripple-like structures between 9 and 13 days of growth. Using time-lapse
microscopic imaging, we discovered that the biofilm ripples migrated downstream.
The morphology and the migration velocity of the ripples varied with short-term
changes in the bulk liquid flow velocity. The ripples had a maximum migration
velocity of 800μmh-1
(2.2 x 10-7 m s-1 ) when the liquid flow velocity
was 0.5 m s-1 (Reynolds number = 1800). The work challenges the
commonly held assumption that biofilm structures remain at the same location on
a surface until they eventually detach.
Stoodley, P., Z. Lewandowski, J.D. Boyle and H.M. Lappin-Scott,
"The formation of migratory ripples in a mixed species bacterial biofilm
growing in turbulent flow," J. Environ. Microbiol. 1(5). 447-455 (1999).
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