Easy and Affordable: A New Method for the Studying of Bacterial Biofilm Formation
Dan Alexandru Toc,
Alexandra Csapai,
Florin Popa,
Catalin Popa,
Violeta Pascalau,
Nicoleta Tosa,
Alexandru Botan,
Razvan Marian Mihaila,
Carmen Anca Costache,
Ioana Alina Colosi,
Lia Monica Junie
Affiliations
Dan Alexandru Toc
Department of Microbiology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 8 Victor Babeș Street, 400000 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Alexandra Csapai
Materials Engineering Department, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 103-105 Muncii Ave., 400641 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Florin Popa
Materials Engineering Department, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 103-105 Muncii Ave., 400641 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Catalin Popa
Materials Engineering Department, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 103-105 Muncii Ave., 400641 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Violeta Pascalau
Materials Engineering Department, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 103-105 Muncii Ave., 400641 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Nicoleta Tosa
Molecular and Biomolecular Physics Department, National Institute for Research and Development of Isotopic and Molecular Technologies, 67-103 Donat Street, 400293 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Alexandru Botan
Faculty of Medicine, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 8 Victor Babeș Street, 400000 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Razvan Marian Mihaila
Department of Ophthalmology, Centre Hospitalier Régional d’Orléans, 14 Av. de l’Hôpital, 45100 Orléans, France
Carmen Anca Costache
Department of Microbiology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 8 Victor Babeș Street, 400000 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Ioana Alina Colosi
Department of Microbiology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 8 Victor Babeș Street, 400000 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Lia Monica Junie
Department of Microbiology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 8 Victor Babeș Street, 400000 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Background: Bacterial biofilm formation (BBF) proves itself to be in the spotlight of microbiology research due to the wide variety of infections that it can be associated with, the involvement in food spoilage, industrial biofouling and perhaps sewage treatment. However, BBF remains difficult to study due to the lack of standardization of the existing methods and the expensive equipment needed. We aim to describe a new inexpensive and easy to reproduce protocol for a 3D-printed microfluidic device that can be used to study BBF in a dynamic manner. Methods: We used the SolidWorks 3D CAD Software (EducationEdition 2019–2020, Dassault Systèmes, Vélizy-Villacoublay, France) to design the device and the Creality3D Ender 5 printer (Shenzhen Creality 3D Technology Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, China) for its manufacture. We cultivated strains of Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. For the biofilm evaluation we used optical coherence tomography (OCT), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and crystal violet staining technique. Results: Based on the analysis, Enterococcus faecalis seems to produce more biofilm in the first hours while Pseudomonas aeruginosa started to take the lead on biofilm production after 24 h. Conclusions: With an estimated cost around €0.1285 for one microfluidic device, a relatively inexpensive and easy alternative for the study of BBF was developed.
