Center for Biofilm Engineering (CBE)

Permanent URI for this communityhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/9334

At the Center for Biofilm Engineering (CBE), multidisciplinary research teams develop beneficial uses for microbial biofilms and find solutions to industrially relevant biofilm problems. The CBE was established at Montana State University, Bozeman, in 1990 as a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center. As part of the MSU College of Engineering, the CBE gives students a chance to get a head start on their careers by working on research teams led by world-recognized leaders in the biofilm field.

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Author: search.filters.author.Fallarero, Adyarysearch.filters.applied.f.department: search.filters.department.Chemical & Biological Engineering.

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    Prevention of Staphylococcus aureus biofilm formation by antibiotics in 96-Microtiter Well Plates and Drip Flow Reactors: critical factors influencing outcomes
    (2017-03) Manner, Suvi; Goeres, Darla M.; Skogman, Malena; Vuorela, Pia; Fallarero, Adyary
    Biofilm formation leads to the failure of antimicrobial therapy. Thus, biofilm prevention is a desirable goal of antimicrobial research. In this study, the efficacy of antibiotics (doxycycline, oxacillin and rifampicin) in preventing Staphylococcus aureus biofilms was investigated using Microtiter Well Plates (MWP) and Drip Flow Reactors (DFR), two models characterized by the absence and the presence of a continuous flow of nutrients, respectively. Planktonic culture of S. aureus was exposed to antibiotics for one hour followed by 24 hours incubation with fresh nutrients in MWP or continuous flow of nutrients in DFR. The DFR grown biofilms were significantly more tolerant to the antibiotics than those grown in MWP without the continuous flow. The differences in log reductions (LR) between the two models could not be attributed to differences in the cell density, the planktonic inoculum concentration or the surface-area-to-volume ratios. However, eliminating the flow in the DFR significantly restored the antibiotic susceptibility. These findings demonstrate the importance of considering differences between experimental conditions in different model systems, particularly the flow of nutrients, when performing anti-biofilm efficacy evaluations. Biofilm antibiotic efficacy studies should be assessed using various models and more importantly, in a model mimicking conditions of its clinical application.
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    Systematic exploration of natural and synthetic flavonoids for the inhibition of Staphylococcus aureus biofilms
    (2013-09) Manner, Suvi; Skogman, Malena; Goeres, Darla M.; Vuorela, Pia; Fallarero, Adyary
    When single-cell (or suspended) bacteria switch into the biofilm lifestyle, they become less susceptible to antimicrobials, imposing the need for anti-biofilms research. Flavonoids are among the most extensively studied natural compounds with an unprecedented amount of bioactivity claims. Most studies focus on the antibacterial effects against suspended cells; fewer reports have researched their anti-biofilm properties. Here, a high throughput phenotypic platform was utilized to screen for the inhibitory activity of 500 flavonoids, including natural and synthetic derivatives, against Staphylococcus aureus biofilms. Since discrepancies among results from earlier antibacterial studies on flavonoids had been noted, the current study aimed to minimize sources of variations. After the first screen, flavonoids were classified as inactive (443), moderately active (47) or highly active (10). Further, exclusion criteria combining bioactivity and selectivity identified two synthetic flavans as the most promising. The body of data reported here serves three main purposes. First, it offers an improved methodological workflow for anti-biofilm screens of chemical libraries taking into account the (many times ignored) connections between anti-biofilm and antibacterial properties. This is particularly relevant for the study of flavonoids and other natural products. Second, it provides a large and freely available anti-biofilm bioactivity dataset that expands the knowledge on flavonoids and paves the way for future structure-activity relationship studies and structural optimizations. Finally, it identifies two new flavans that can successfully act on biofilms, as well as on suspendedbacteria and represent more feasible antibacterial candidates.
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    Revisiting an agar-based plate method: What the static biofilm method can offer for biofilm research
    (2014-12) Oja, Terhi; Blomqvist, Brianna; Buckingham-Meyer, Kelli; Goeres, Darla M.; Vuorela, Pia; Fallarero, Adyary
    The development of biofilms in static plates was monitored. Glass coupons were placed on agar covered with filter paper, which was inoculated with suspended bacteria. The viable cell density, biofilms matrix and biomass were quantified. The method is excellent for adhesion and material studies, due to its simplicity and flexibility.
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