Effect of metallic ions on the adhesion of biofilms formed by Pseudomonas fluorescens

Abstract

Data on the adhesion of biofilms formed by Pseudomonas fluorescens to aluminium, copper and brass surfaces are reported in this paper. Biofilm thicknesses after 48 h were lower on the brass plates than on the other two metals. The results are compared with predictions of bacterial adhesion obtained by the method of van Oss et al. (C.J. van Oss, M.K. Chaudhury and R.J. Good, Chem. Rev., 88 (1988) 927), based on the evaluation of the change in the free energy of adhesion of the interacting systems. The presence of metallic ions released by the surfaces into the environment seemed to affect bacterial metabolism and adhesion and were taken into account to explain the discrepancies between experimental data and thermodynamic predictions. The possible effects of the extracellular polymers excreted by the bacteria on their attachment abilities are also stressed.