Effects of genetic and environmental variables on biofilm development dynamics in Achromobacter mucicolens

The study aimed to investigate whether Achromobacter mucicolens IA strain biofilm formation, which contributes to antibiotic resistance, could be enhanced by readily available nutrient sources like carbohydrates and environmental factors such as pH and NaCl. Additionally, the study aimed to identify any inherent genes that support biofilm formation in this strain, which is an opportunistic pathogen that affects immunocompromised patients and is resistant to many antibiotics.

Biofilm growth in different carbohydrate, pH, and NaCl concentrated media was measured using crystal violet microtiter assay. All the treatments were subjected to biostatistics analysis for normality, Test of Homogeneity, one way ANOVA analysis. Whole-genome sequencing of our IA strain was conducted to identify various gene sequences.

Biofilm formation was measured at different carbohydrate concentrations, and the optimum biofilm formation was observed at 3M glucose and 0.5M NaCl, while the lowest results were seen at 2M maltose concentration. Whole-genome sequencing identified potential genes involved in biofilm formation, pathogenicity, protein metabolism, flagellar motility, cell wall component synthesis, and a multidrug efflux pump.

These findings suggest that biofilm formation is influenced by extrinsic and intrinsic factors, which could aid in the development of effective treatments for resistant infections.