Survival of Salmonella on a polypropylene surface under dry conditions in relation to biofilm-formation capability

This study was conducted to gain insights into the survival of Salmonella on a polypropylene surface in relation to the ability of these bacteria to form a biofilm. We selected Salmonella strains known for the relative ease or difficulty with which they formed biofilms based on microtiter plate assays and studied the survival of these strains on polypropylene discs in a desiccation chamber by sequentially counting CFUs. The biofilm-forming strains survived longer on the plastic disc surface than did biofilm-deficient strains. The biofilm-forming strains remained at over 10(4) CFU per plate until day 175, whereas the biofilm-deficient strains decreased to below 10(2) CFU per plate on day 20 or below 10(4) CFU per plate on day 108. Extracellular materials on the polypropylene surface were observed by scanning electron microscopy and crystal violet staining for the biofilm-forming strains but not for the biofilm-deficient strains. The extracellular polymeric materials on the polypropylene surface may have protected the bacterial cells from dryness, although the possibility of some inherent resistance to environmental stresses linked to biofilm formation could not be excluded. These results indicate that Salmonella strains with high biofilm productivity may be a greater risk to human health via food contamination by surviving for longer periods compared with strains with low biofilm productivity.