Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilm Inactivation: Decreased Cell Culturability, Adhesiveness to Surfaces, and Biofilm Thickness upon High-Pressure Non-Thermal Plasma Treatment

ANNA J. ZELAYA, GREGORY STOUGH, NAVID RAD, KURT VANDERVOORT, AND GRACIELA BRELLES-MARIÑO

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE

IEEE-INST ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS INC

Año: 2010 vol. 38 p. 3398 - 3403

0093-3813

Bacterial biofilms are more resilient to standard killing methods than free-living bacteria. Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 biofilms grown on borosilicate coupons were treated with gas-discharge plasma for various exposure times. Almost 100% of the cells were inactivated after a 5-min plasma exposure. Atomic-force-microscopy was used to image the biofilms and study their micromechanical properties. Results show that the adhesiveness to borosilicate and the thickness of the Pseudomonas biofilms are reduced upon plasma treatment.