This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Heffernan, B.
Right arrow Articles by Casey, E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Heffernan, B.
Right arrow Articles by Casey, E.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Heffernan, B.
Right arrow Articles by Casey, E.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 2009, p. 2899-2907, Vol. 75, No. 9
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01530-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Comparison of Planktonic and Biofilm Cultures of Pseudomonas fluorescens DSM 8341 Cells Grown on Fluoroacetate{triangledown}

Barry Heffernan,1 Cormac D. Murphy,2 and Eoin Casey1*

UCD School of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering,1 UCD School of Biomolecular Science, Centre for Synthesis and Chemical Biology, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland2

Received 7 July 2008/ Accepted 4 March 2009

Comparisons between the physiological properties of Pseudomonas fluorescens biofilm cells grown in a tubular biofilm reactor and planktonic cells grown in a chemostat were performed. Fluoroacetate was the sole carbon source for all experiments. The performance of cells was assessed using cell cycle kinetics and by determining specific fluoroacetate utilization rates. Cell cycle kinetics were studied by flow cytometry in conjunction with the fluorescent stain propidium iodide. Determination of the DNA content of planktonic and biofilm cultures showed little difference between the two modes of growth. Cultures with comparable specific glycolate utilization rates had similar percentages of cells in the B phase of the cell cycle, indicating similar growth rates. Specific fluoroacetate utilization rates showed the performance of planktonic cells to be superior to that of biofilm cells, with more fluoroacetate utilized per cell at similar specific fluoroacetate loading rates. A consequence of this decreased biofilm performance was the accumulation of glycolate in the effluent of biofilm cultures. This accumulation of glycolate was not observed in the effluent of planktonic cultures. Spatial stratification of oxygen within the biofilm was identified as a possible explanation for the overflow metabolism of glycolate and the decreased performance of the biofilm cells.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: UCD School of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering, Engineering and Materials Science Centre, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland. Phone: 353 1 7161877. Fax: 353 1 7161177. E-mail: eoin.casey{at}ucd.ie

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 13 March 2009.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 2009, p. 2899-2907, Vol. 75, No. 9
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01530-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»