Influence of growth history on sloughing and erosion from biofilms.

The development of biofilms is determined by the balance of growth and detachment. But while the growth of biofilms is well studied, the influence of growth history and detachment on biofilm development is not. Here we report on laboratory scale experiments where heterotrophic biofilms were grown in a tubular reactor. Biofilm detachment was categorized based on particle size as erosion or sloughing. Erosion results in small particles and was approximated by the effluent suspended solids while sloughing was determined from the larger pieces of biomass that settled in a mixing tank. It was found that for all experiments, overall detachment was a combination of erosion and sloughing where erosion had a slightly larger contribution to the overall solids removal. However, sloughing had a significant influence on the biofilm morphology. Once the smooth biofilm surface was disturbed by a sloughing event (e.g., initiated through increasing liquid shear in the reactor), the biofilm became unstable resulting in spontaneous sloughing during subsequent operation. We propose that experimental investigations should consider sloughing events as an integral part of biofilm development rather than a disturbance.

[1]  D. Hempel,et al.  Screening of lectins for staining lectin-specific glycoconjugates in the EPS of biofilms , 2003 .

[2]  D. de Beer,et al.  Liquid flow in heterogeneous biofilms , 1994, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[3]  Eberhard Morgenroth,et al.  Simulation of growth and detachment in biofilm systems under defined hydrodynamic conditions. , 2003, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[4]  Hideki Harada,et al.  Characterization of detachment mode of biofilm developed in an attached-growth reactor , 1994 .

[5]  W. G. Characklis,et al.  Cellular reporoduction and extracellular polymer formation by Pseudomonas aeruginosa in continuous culture , 1984, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[6]  Hans C. Gerritsen,et al.  Depth Penetration and Detection of pH Gradients in Biofilms by Two-Photon Excitation Microscopy , 1999, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

[7]  J J Heijnen,et al.  Mathematical modeling of biofilm structure with a hybrid differential-discrete cellular automaton approach. , 1998, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[8]  P. Reichert,et al.  Movement of solids in biofilms: Significance of liquid phase transport , 1997 .

[9]  J. Costerton,et al.  Influence of Hydrodynamics and Cell Signaling on the Structure and Behavior of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilms , 2002, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

[10]  Harald Horn,et al.  Influence of growth conditions on biofilm development and mass transfer at the bulk/biofilm interface. , 2002, Water research.

[11]  P Stoodley,et al.  Influence of hydrodynamics and nutrients on biofilm structure , 1998, Journal of applied microbiology.

[12]  W. G. Characklis,et al.  Transport of 1‐μm latex particles in pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms , 1993 .

[13]  J. Costerton,et al.  The involvement of cell-to-cell signals in the development of a bacterial biofilm. , 1998, Science.

[14]  Peter A. Wilderer,et al.  Influence of detachment mechanisms on competition in biofilms , 2000 .

[15]  A. E. Greenberg,et al.  Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater : supplement to the sixteenth edition , 1988 .

[16]  C. Picioreanu,et al.  Influence of biomass production and detachment forces on biofilm structures in a biofilm airlift suspension reactor , 1998, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[17]  C. Kirschner,et al.  The role of intermolecular interactions: studies on model systems for bacterial biofilms. , 1999, International journal of biological macromolecules.

[18]  William G. Characklis,et al.  Dynamics of biofilm processes , 1982 .

[19]  J J Heijnen,et al.  Two-dimensional model of biofilm detachment caused by internal stress from liquid flow. , 2001, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[20]  J. Bryers,et al.  Effects of carbon and oxygen limitations and calcium concentrations on biofilm removal processes , 1991, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[21]  E. Arvin.  Biodegradation kinetics of chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons with methane oxidizing bacteria in an aerobic fixed biofilm reactor , 1991 .

[22]  W. G. Characklis,et al.  Activity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in biofilms: Steady state , 1984, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[23]  P. Stewart,et al.  A model of biofilm detachment , 1993, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[24]  Gerald E. Speitel,et al.  Biofilm Shearing under Dynamic Conditions , 1987 .

[25]  John C. Kissel.  Modeling Mass Transfer in Biological Wastewater Treatment Processes , 1986 .

[26]  J. Costerton,et al.  Pseudomonas aeruginosa Displays Multiple Phenotypes during Development as a Biofilm , 2002, Journal of bacteriology.

[27]  M. V. van Loosdrecht,et al.  Dynamics of biofilm detachment in biofilm airlift suspension reactors , 1995, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[28]  J. Bryers.  Biofilms II : process analysis and applications , 2000 .

[29]  Aukje Gjaltema,et al.  Laboratory biofilm reactors and on-line monitoring: report of the discussion session , 1995 .

[30]  S. Kjelleberg,et al.  Is there a role for quorum sensing signals in bacterial biofilms? , 2002, Current opinion in microbiology.

[31]  B. Rittman,et al.  The effect of shear stress on biofilm loss rate. , 1982, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[32]  B. Peyton,et al.  A statistical analysis of the effect of substrate utilization and shear stress on the kinetics of biofilm detachment , 1993, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[33]  S. Molin,et al.  Development and Dynamics of Pseudomonassp. Biofilms , 2000, Journal of bacteriology.

[34]  Joo-Hwa Tay,et al.  Detachment forces and their influence on the structure and metabolic behaviour of biofilms , 2001 .

[35]  M. Vieira,et al.  Physical stability and biological activity of biofilms under turbulent flow and low substrate concentration , 1999 .

[36]  F. Volke,et al.  Measuring local flow velocities and biofilm structure in biofilm systems with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) , 2003, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[37]  H. Lappin-Scott,et al.  Relationship between mass transfer coefficient and liquid flow velocity in heterogenous biofilms using microelectrodes and confocal microscopy. , 1997, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[38]  J. Bryers,et al.  Local macromolecule diffusion coefficients in structurally non-uniform bacterial biofilms using fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP). , 1998, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[39]  D. Hempel,et al.  Growth and decay in an auto-/heterotrophic biofilm , 1997 .

[40]  B. Rittmann,et al.  Mathematical modeling of biofilm on activated carbon. , 1987, Environmental science & technology.

[41]  L. Lijklema,et al.  Light adaptation of Oscillatoria Agardhii at different time scales. , 1995 .

[42]  Arthur R. M. Nowell,et al.  Turbulent flow in a depth‐limited boundary layer , 1979 .

[43]  Hilary M. Lappin-Scott,et al.  Evolving perspectives of biofilm structure , 1999 .

[44]  E Morgenroth,et al.  Monitoring biofilm detachment under dynamic changes in shear stress using laser-based particle size analysis and mass fractionation. , 2003, Water science and technology : a journal of the International Association on Water Pollution Research.

[45]  Paul Stoodley,et al.  Relation between the structure of an aerobic biofilm and transport phenomena , 1995 .

[46]  R Kreikenbohm,et al.  Application of a two‐compartment model to the wall growth of Pelobacter acidigallici under continuous culture conditions , 1985, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

[47]  J. Bryers,et al.  Biofilm formation and chemostat dynamics: Pure and mixed culture considerations , 1984, Biotechnology and bioengineering.