New device for high-throughput viability screening of flow biofilms

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Biofilm Research
• Antimicrobial Screening

Background:

• Controlling biofilms is crucial, but rapid screening methods are limited to static biofilms, not flow biofilms that better mimic natural conditions.
• Existing methods for assessing flow biofilms are not high-throughput, hindering the discovery of new antimicrobial compounds and resistance mechanisms.
• There is a need for efficient, high-throughput methods to study flow biofilms and identify effective biofilm control agents.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a high-throughput (HTP) screening method for continuous flow biofilms.
• To enable rapid assessment of antimicrobial compound efficacy against flow biofilms.
• To facilitate the identification of genes involved in enhanced biofilm resistance.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a microfluidic device (BioFlux) with a pneumatic pump to control fluid flow to 96 individual flow biofilms.
• Employed green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing bacteria and propidium iodide staining for biofilm viability assessment.
• Measured biofilm viability using a standard plate reader, comparing results with plate counts and fluorescence microscopy.

Main Results:

• The BioFlux device allowed precise control of fluid flow rates for 96 biofilms simultaneously.
• Plate reader measurements of biofilm viability correlated well with traditional plate counts and microscopy.
• Successfully screened the effects of multiple antimicrobials on Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 flow biofilm viability.

Conclusions:

• The developed HTP method provides a rapid and accurate means to screen flow biofilms.
• This approach is suitable for evaluating antimicrobial efficacy and studying biofilm resistance mechanisms.
• The method is compatible with standard laboratory equipment, making it broadly applicable in biofilm research.