Comparison of methods for detection of biofilm formation by Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from canine ear infection

Abstract

In this thesis the components of biofilms, the mechanisms of their formation and their importance as resistance factor will be discussed. Experiments on P. aeruginosa biofilms and its matrix production were conducted in our study aiming to evaluate the amount of biofilm formed with the use of crystal violet (CV) staining, and to measure the amount of viable cells found in the matrix itself with the methyltetrazolium salt (MTS) assay method. These two methods were compared to find a connection between the number of viable cells and the amount of biofilm produced by those bacteria after different incubation periods. The goal of this comparison is to obtain more information about the biofilm production and to find a quicker and cheaper solution for their detection that can be put to use when testing different antibiotics and anti-biofilms agents to establish whether they are effective against different bacterial biofilms in certain concentrations. Our study could be put to use as a base for further investigations in this field. The overuse or misuse of antibiotics and the global spread of antibiotic resistance urges the need for development of new antibiotic substances and effective anti-biofilm agents. With the latter we would be able to use less antibiotics in general or even anti-biofilm substances could be sufficient on their own.