DEVELOPING A NOVEL ANTIMICROBIAL TECHNOLOGY TO PREVENT BACTERIAL COLONIZATION ON SURFACES IN SYSTEMS USED BY THE DAIRY INDUSTRY
2Biofilm Research Laboratory, The Hebrew University-Hadassah, Jerusalem, Israel
3Chemistry and The Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, The Hebrew University-Givat Ram, Jerusalem, Israel
Introduction. Surface attached bacteria arranged in biofilm represent a major source of contamination of milk and its products in terms of dairy food safety and quality. Products cross-contamination because biofilm bacteria may result in crucial economic and sanitary problem. Biofilm formation is a multistage process in which bacterial cells adhere to a surface through producing an extracellular matrix (EM). The EM is typically composed of polymeric substances such as polysaccharides, proteins and nucleic acids, which often surround and protect the bacteria.
The purpose of this study is to develop the antibacterial coating based on a self-assembly principle of small peptides that have the ability to adsorb to the surface and prevent biofilm formation.
Materials and Methods. Two different bacteria, Bacillus licheniformis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which are considered as extremely problematic species in the industry, were grown onto peptide coated as well as uncoated stainless steel surfaces. The biofilm formation was detected using confocal microscopy of fluorescently stained cells as well as plating method through quantifying the colony-forming units (CFU).
Results. We found a significant difference in the attachment ability of tested bacteria onto peptide coated surfaces compared to the uncoated surfaces. The peptide coated surfaces showed up to 2-log reduction in the numbers of attached B .licheniformis as well as P. aeruginosa cells. The peptide coated surfaces demonstrated also an inhibition of biofilm maturation process in the tested species. Importantly, it was further found that the peptide coating could not kill the bacteria indicating about specific anti-biofilm mode of action of the generated surfaces.
Conclusions. We have demonstrated a novel approach for the prevention of biofilm attachment using the self-assembly of tripeptide onto surface. Likely, this finding is explained by the impairment of the bacteria ability to attach to the surface at initial adhesion step of the biofilm formation.
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