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Updated: Dec 21, 2025
Methods for Characterizing the Co-development of Biofilm and Habitat Heterogeneity
Published on: March 11, 2015
The role of flow in bacterial biofilm morphology and wetting properties
Federica Recupido1, Giuseppe Toscano2, Rosarita Tatè3
1Division of Chemical Technology, School of Chemistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University Box 116, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece; Department of Chemical, Materials and Industrial Production Engineering (DICMaPI), University of Naples, Federico II, Piazzale V. Tecchio 80, 80125, Naples, Italy.
Abstract:
Biofilms are bacterial communities embedded in an extracellular matrix, able to adhere to surfaces. Different experimental set-ups are widely used for in vitro biofilm cultivation; however, a well-defined comparison among different culture conditions, especially suited to interfacial characterization, is still lacking in the literature. The main objective of this work is to study the role of flow on biofilm formation, morphology and interfacial properties. Three different in vitro setups, corresponding to stagnant, shaking, and laminar flow conditions (custom-made flow cell), are used in this work to grow single strain biofilms of Pseudomonas fluorescens AR 11 on glass coupons. Results show that flow conditions significantly influenced biofilm formation kinetics, affecting mass transfer and cell attachment/detachment processes. Distinct morphological patterns are found under different flow regimes. Static contact angle data do not depend significantly on biofilm growth conditions in the parametric range investigated in this work.
