Hyperhalophilic archaeal biofilms: growth kinetics, structure and antagonic interaction in continuous culture

LEONARDO DI MEGLIO; JUAN PABLO BUSALMEN; JUAN IGNACIO PASTORE; VIRGINIA BALLARIN; DÉBORA NERCESSIAN

BIOFOULING

TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2014 p. 1 - 31

0892-7014

Biofilms are the most widely distributed way of life in the microbial world and have implications in industrial activities, ecology and health, which promoted their sustained study since more than three decades ago. Available information documents several, if not all of the relevant parameters of biofilm development, but concentrates in bacterial biofilms, leaving archaeal biofilms almost unexplored. In this work we analyze the formation of biofilms by two hyperhalophilic archaea, Halorubrum sp. and Halobacterium sp. describing for the first time the progression of structural features and developmental parameters during growth. We also analyze antagonic interactions between selected strains both in typical double-agar plates and in biofilm systems. Presented results confirm that these strains can readily form biofilms onto glass surfaces under continuous flow, with structural features that are strain-dependent. Indeed, morphological differences at the microscopic observation allowed the direct visualization of the antagonic effect exerted by Halobacterium sp. on Halorubrum sp. biofilms.