D-Phenylalanine inhibits biofilm development of a marine microbe, Pseudoalteromonas sp. SC2014

D-Amino acids have been reported to be able to inhibit biofilm formation or disperse existing biofilms of many microbes; in some cases this is due to growth inhibition as an unspecific effect. In this work, six different D-amino acids were tested for their inhibitory effects on biofilm development and bacterial growth of Pseudoalteromonas sp. SC2014, a marine microbe involved in microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC). Experimental results indicated that D-phenylalanine (D-Phe) inhibited biofilm formation effectively at concentrations that did not affect cell growth, whereas the other D-amino acids either showed little effect or inhibited biofilm formation while inhibiting bacterial growth. Further studies found that D-Phe could inhibit bacterial accumulation on the surface of 316L stainless steel, and prevent bacteria from forming a multilayer biofilm. It was also suggested that D-Phe could promote the disassembly of an established multilayer biofilm but have little effect on the remaining monolayer adherent cells. For the first time, it was found that a D-amino acid could effectively inhibit biofilm formation of an MIC-involved microbe. This might supply a new insight into how MIC could be mitigated.