Effects of chelating agent and environmental stresses on microbial biofilms: relevance to clinical microbiology

To determine the effect of pH, temperature, desiccation, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and desferrioxamine B (DFO) on Panton-Valentine leukocidin-positive community acquired methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (PVL +ve CA-MSSA) biofilm formation.

Biofilms from PVL +ve CA-MSSA (clinical isolate) were subjected to pH, temperature, desiccation, EDTA and DFO. PVL +ve CA-MSSA were more resistant to pH and heat than their planktonic equivalents. Desiccation studies demonstrated that PVL +ve CA-MSSA biofilms were more refractory to the treatment than planktonic cells. Significant inhibition of PVL +ve CA-MSSA biofilm formation was observed in the presence of 1 mmol l(-1) EDTA. Low concentrations (2·5 μmol l(-1) ) of DFO enhanced the growth of PVL +ve CA-MSSA biofilms. At higher concentrations (1 mmol l(-1) ), DFO did inhibit the growth but not as much as EDTA. A combination of EDTA and DFO inhibited PVL +ve CA-MSSA biofilm formation at lower concentrations than either alone.

This study demonstrates that PVL +ve CA-MSSA biofilms are resistant to environmental stress but their growth can inhibited effectively by a mixture of EDTA and DFO.

The inhibition of biofilm formation by PVL +ve CA-MSSA using chelating agents has not been previously reported and provides a practical approach to achieve the disruption of these potentially important biofilms formed by an emerging pathogen.