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- Title
Methods to study microbial adhesion on abiotic surfaces.
- Authors
Meireles, Ana; Gonçalves, Ana L.; Gomes, Inês B.; Simões, Lúcia Chaves; Simões, Manuel
- Abstract
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.
- Subjects
BIOFILMS; MICROBIAL adhesion; ABIOTIC environment
- Publication
AIMS Bioengineering, 2015, Vol 2, Issue 4, p297
- ISSN
2375-1495
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3934/bioeng.2015.4.297