TY - JOUR

T1 - Establishment and early succession of a multispecies biofilm composed of soil bacteria

AU - Burmølle, Mette

AU - Hansen, Lars H

AU - Sørensen, Søren J

N1 - Keywords: Bacteria; Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; Biofilms; DNA, Bacterial; DNA, Ribosomal; Ecosystem; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; Soil Microbiology

PY - 2007

Y1 - 2007

N2 - Most soil bacteria are likely to be organized in biofilms on roots, litter, or soil particles. Studies of such biofilms are complicated by the many nonculturable species present in soil, as well as the interspecific bacterial interactions affecting biofilm biology. We in this study describe the development of a biofilm flow model and use this system to establish an early (days 1-7) flow biofilm of soil bacteria from agricultural soil. It was possible to follow the succession in the early flow biofilm by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis, and it was demonstrated that the majority of strains present in the biofilm were culturable. We isolated and identified nine strains, all associated with unique DGGE profiles, and related their intrinsic phenotypes regarding monospecies biofilm formation in microtiter plates and planktonic growth characteristics to the appearance of the strains in the flow biofilm. The ability of the strains to attach to and establish biofilm in microtiter plates was reflected in their flow biofilm appearance, whereas no such reflection of the planktonic growth characteristics in the flow biofilm appearance was observed. One strain-specific synergistic interaction, strongly promoting biofilm formation of two strains when cultured together in a dual-species biofilm, was observed, indicating that some strains promote biofilm formation of others. Thus, the biofilm flow model proved useful for investigations of how intrinsic phenotypic traits of individual species affect the succession in an early soil biofilm consortium.

AB - Most soil bacteria are likely to be organized in biofilms on roots, litter, or soil particles. Studies of such biofilms are complicated by the many nonculturable species present in soil, as well as the interspecific bacterial interactions affecting biofilm biology. We in this study describe the development of a biofilm flow model and use this system to establish an early (days 1-7) flow biofilm of soil bacteria from agricultural soil. It was possible to follow the succession in the early flow biofilm by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis, and it was demonstrated that the majority of strains present in the biofilm were culturable. We isolated and identified nine strains, all associated with unique DGGE profiles, and related their intrinsic phenotypes regarding monospecies biofilm formation in microtiter plates and planktonic growth characteristics to the appearance of the strains in the flow biofilm. The ability of the strains to attach to and establish biofilm in microtiter plates was reflected in their flow biofilm appearance, whereas no such reflection of the planktonic growth characteristics in the flow biofilm appearance was observed. One strain-specific synergistic interaction, strongly promoting biofilm formation of two strains when cultured together in a dual-species biofilm, was observed, indicating that some strains promote biofilm formation of others. Thus, the biofilm flow model proved useful for investigations of how intrinsic phenotypic traits of individual species affect the succession in an early soil biofilm consortium.

U2 - 10.1007/s00248-007-9222-5

DO - 10.1007/s00248-007-9222-5

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 17593424

VL - 54

SP - 352

EP - 362

JO - Microbial Ecology

JF - Microbial Ecology

SN - 0095-3628

IS - 2

ER -