A high-throughput microtiter plate screening assay to quantify and differentiate species in dual-species biofilms

Pathogenic bacteria form biofilms during infection, and polymicrobial biofilms are the most frequent manifestation. Biofilm attachment, maturation, and/or antibiotic sensitivity are mainly evaluated with microtiter plate assays, in which bacteria are stained to enable the quantification of the bioma...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Campo Pérez, Víctor|||0000-0003-3161-9984, Alcàcer-Almansa, Júlia|||0000-0002-8688-3128, Julián Gómez, Esther|||0000-0002-6558-3978, Torrents, Eduard|||0000-0002-3010-1609
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:283658
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/283658
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.3390/microorganisms11092244
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Burkholderia cenocepacia
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Biomass quantification
Crystal violet
Dual-species biofilms
Descripción
Sumario:Pathogenic bacteria form biofilms during infection, and polymicrobial biofilms are the most frequent manifestation. Biofilm attachment, maturation, and/or antibiotic sensitivity are mainly evaluated with microtiter plate assays, in which bacteria are stained to enable the quantification of the biomass by optical absorbance or fluorescence emission. However, using these methods to distinguish different species in dual-species or polymicrobial biofilms is currently impossible. Colony-forming unit counts from homogenized dual-species biofilms on selective agar medium allow species differentiation but are time-consuming for a high-throughput screening. Thus, reliable, feasible, and fast methods are urgently needed to study the behavior of polymicrobial and dual-species communities. This study shows that Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Burkholderia cenocepacia strains expressing specific fluorescent or bioluminescent proteins permit the more efficient study of dual-species biofilms compared to other methods that rely on measuring the total biomass. Combining fluorescence and bioluminescence measurements allows an independent analysis of the different microbial species within the biofilm, indicating the degree of presence of each one over time during a dual-species biofilm growth. The quantitative strategies developed in this work are reproducible and recommended for dual-species biofilm studies with high-throughput microtiter plate approaches using strains that can constitutively express fluorescent or bioluminescent proteins.