scholarly journals Relaxation behavior in low-frequency complex conductivity of sands caused by bacterial growth and biofilm formation by Shewanella oneidensis under a high-salinity condition

Geophysics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 86 (6) ◽  
pp. B389-B400
Author(s):  
Hyun-Woo Joo ◽  
Tae-Hyuk Kwon ◽  
Seung-Rae Lee ◽  
Yuxin Wu

Complex electrical conductivity is increasingly used to monitor subsurface processes associated with microbial activities because microbial cells mostly have surface charges and thus electrical double layers. Although highly saline environments are frequently encountered in coastal and marine sediments, there are limited data available on the complex conductivity associated with microbial activities under a high-salinity condition. Therefore, we have developed the spectral responses of complex conductivity of sand associated with bacterial growth and biofilm formation under a highly saline condition of approximately 1% salinity and approximately 2 S/m pore water conductivity with an emphasis on relaxation behavior. A column test is performed, in which the model bacteria Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 are stimulated for cell growth and biofilm formation in a sand pack, whereas the complex conductivity is monitored from 0.01 Hz to 10 kHz. The test results indicate that the real conductivity increases in the early stage due to the microbial metabolites and the increased surface conduction with cell growth but soon begin to decrease because of the reduction of charge passages due to bioclogging. However, the imaginary conductivity significantly increases with time, and clear bell-shaped relaxation behaviors are observed with the peak frequency of 0.1–1 Hz, associated with the double-layer polarization of cells and electrically conductive pili and biofilms. The Cole-Cole relaxation model appears to capture such relaxation behaviors well, and the modeling results indicate gradual increases in normalized chargeability and decreases in relaxation time during bacterial growth and biofilm formation in the highly saline condition. Comparison with previous literature confirms that the high-salinity condition further increases the normalized chargeability, whereas it suppresses the phase shift and thus the imaginary conductivity. Our results suggest that the complex conductivity can effectively capture microbial biomass formation in sands under a highly saline condition.

2015 ◽  
Vol 61 (7) ◽  
pp. 487-494 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devendra H. Dusane ◽  
Che O’May ◽  
Nathalie Tufenkji

Chromobacterium violaceum is an opportunistic pathogen that causes infections that are difficult to treat. The goal of this research was to evaluate the effect of selected tannins (tannic acid (TA) and gallic acid (GA)) on bacterial growth, motility, antibiotic (carbenicillin, tetracycline) susceptibility, and biofilm formation. Both tannins, particularly TA, impaired bacterial growth levels and swimming motilities at sub-minimum inhibitory concentrations (sub-MICs). In combination with tannins, antibiotics showed increased MICs, suggesting that tannins interfered with antibacterial activity. Sub-MICs of tetracycline or TA alone enhanced biofilm formation of C. violaceum; however, in combination, these compounds inhibited biofilm formation. In contrast, carbenicillin at sub-MICs was effective in inhibiting C. violaceum biofilm formation; however, in combination with lower concentrations of TA or GA, biofilms were enhanced. These results provide insights into the effects of tannins on C. violaceum growth and their varying interaction with antibiotics used to target C. violaceum infections.


2013 ◽  
Vol 1498 ◽  
pp. 73-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Gozde Durmus ◽  
Erik N. Taylor ◽  
Kim M. Kummer ◽  
Thomas J. Webster

ABSTRACTBiofilms are a major source of medical device-associated infections, due to their persistent growth and antibiotic resistance. Recent studies have shown that engineering surface nanoroughness has great potential to create antibacterial surfaces. In addition, stimulation of bacterial metabolism increases the efficacy of antibacterial agents to eradicate biofilms. In this study, we combined the antibacterial effects of nanorough topographies with metabolic stimulation (i.e., fructose metabolites) to further decrease bacterial growth on polyvinyl chloride (PVC) surfaces, without using antibiotics. We showed for the first time that the presence of fructose on nanorough PVC surfaces decreased planktonic bacteria growth and biofilm formation after 24 hours. Most importantly, a 60% decrease was observed on nanorough PVC surfaces soaked in a 10 mM fructose solution compared to conventional PVC surfaces. In this manner, this study demonstrated that bacteria growth can be significantly decreased through the combined use of fructose and nanorough surfaces and thus should be further studied for a wide range of antibacterial applications.


2008 ◽  
Vol 88A (3) ◽  
pp. 711-716 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anton H. Hosman ◽  
Henny C. van der Mei ◽  
Sjoerd K. Bulstra ◽  
Henk J. Busscher ◽  
Daniëlle Neut

F1000Research ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 14
Author(s):  
Dina Auliya Amly ◽  
Puspita Hajardhini ◽  
Alma Linggar Jonarta ◽  
Heribertus Dedy Kusuma Yulianto ◽  
Heni Susilowati

Background: Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacterium, produces pyocyanin, a virulence factor associated with antibiotic tolerance. High concentrations of royal jelly have an antibacterial effect, which may potentially overcome antibacterial resistance. However, in some cases, antibiotic tolerance can occur due to prolonged stress of low-dose antibacterial agents. This study aimed to investigate the effect of subinhibitory concentrations of royal jelly on bacterial growth, pyocyanin production, and biofilm formation of P. aeruginosa. Methods: Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 10145 and clinical isolates were cultured in a royal jelly-containing medium to test the antibacterial activity. Pyocyanin production was observed by measuring the absorbance at 690 nm after 36 h culture and determined using extinction coefficient 4310 M-1 cm-1. Static microtiter plate biofilm assay performed to detect the biofilm formation, followed by scanning electron microscopy. Results: Royal jelly effectively inhibited the viability of both strains from a concentration of 25%. The highest production of pyocyanin was observed in the subinhibitory concentration group 6.25%, which gradually decreased along with the decrease of royal jelly concentration. Results of one-way ANOVA tests differed significantly in pyocyanin production of the two strains between the royal jelly groups. Tukey HSD test showed concentrations of 12.5%, 6.25%, and 3.125% significantly increased pyocyanin production of ATCC 10145, and the concentrations of 12.5% and 6.25% significantly increased production of the clinical isolates. Concentrations of 12.5% and 6.125% significantly induced biofilm formation of P. aeruginosa ATCC 10145, in line with the results of the SEM analysis. Conclusions: The royal jelly concentration of 25% or higher inhibits bacterial growth; however, the subinhibitory concentration increases pyocyanin production and biofilm formation in P. aeruginosa. It is advisable to determine the appropriate concentration of royal jelly to obtain beneficial virulence inhibiting activity.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (18) ◽  
pp. 5391
Author(s):  
Marija Djošić ◽  
Ana Janković ◽  
Vesna Mišković-Stanković

Current trends in biomaterials science address the issue of integrating artificial materials as orthopedic or dental implants with biological materials, e.g., patients’ bone tissue. Problems arise due to the simple fact that any surface that promotes biointegration and facilitates osteointegration may also provide a good platform for the rapid growth of bacterial colonies. Infected implant surfaces easily lead to biofilm formation that poses a major healthcare concern since it could have destructive effects and ultimately endanger the patients’ life. As of late, research has centered on designing coatings that would eliminate possible infection but neglected to aid bone mineralization. Other strategies yielded surfaces that could promote osseointegration but failed to prevent microbial susceptibility. Needless to say, in order to assure prolonged implant functionality, both coating functions are indispensable and should be addressed simultaneously. This review summarizes progress in designing multifunctional implant coatings that serve as carriers of antibacterial agents with the primary intention of inhibiting bacterial growth on the implant-tissue interface, while still promoting osseointegration.


2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (37) ◽  
pp. 23001-23010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feng-He Li ◽  
Qiang Tang ◽  
Yang-Yang Fan ◽  
Yang Li ◽  
Jie Li ◽  
...  

The unique extracellular electron transfer (EET) ability has positioned electroactive bacteria (EAB) as a major class of cellular chassis for genetic engineering aimed at favorable environmental, energy, and geoscience applications. However, previous efforts to genetically enhance EET ability have often impaired the basal metabolism and cellular growth due to the competition for the limited cellular resource. Here, we design a quorum sensing-based population-state decision (PSD) system for intelligently reprogramming the EET regulation system, which allows the rebalanced allocation of the cellular resource upon the bacterial growth state. We demonstrate that the electron output from Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 could be greatly enhanced by the PSD system via shifting the dominant metabolic flux from initial bacterial growth to subsequent EET enhancement (i.e., after reaching a certain population-state threshold). The strain engineered with this system achieved up to 4.8-fold EET enhancement and exhibited a substantially improved pollutant reduction ability, increasing the reduction efficiencies of methyl orange and hexavalent chromium by 18.8- and 5.5-fold, respectively. Moreover, the PSD system outcompeted the constant expression system in managing EET enhancement, resulting in considerably enhanced electron output and pollutant bioreduction capability. The PSD system provides a powerful tool for intelligently managing extracellular electron transfer and may inspire the development of new-generation smart bioelectrical devices for various applications.


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