• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.125-139
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• 2016

Biofilms are considered a complexly structured community of microorganisms derived from their attached growth to abiotic and biotic surfaces. In human life, they mediate serious infections and cause many problems in civil and industrial facilities. While it is of huge interest for scientists to understand biofilms, it has been very hard to directly analyze the various biofilms in nature. A variety of biofilm models have been suggested for laboratory-scale biofilm formation and many methods based on these models are widely used for the biofilm researches. These biofilm models mimic characteristics of environmental biofilms with different advantages and disadvantages. In this review, we will introduce these currently used biofilm model systems and explain their relative merits.

• Proceedings of the Korean Environmental Sciences Society Conference
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• 2001.05a
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• pp.162-163
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• 2001

기질농도, HRT, 온도, pH, $Ca^{2+}$ 농도변화에 따른 반응기의 생물막형성과 세포외고분자물질의 조성변화에 따른 기질 제거율을 살펴보았다. 그 결과 반응기의 초기 생물막 형성은 각 조건에 따라서 약간의 차이를 보였다. 반응기 운전 초기에 균에 의해 생산된 세포외고분자물질은 점액질의 형태로 세포벽에 부착되어 주위환경의 해로운 요인으로부터 세포를 보호하는 기능을 가지고 있어 생물막 형성을 촉진시키는 역할을 하였으나, 생물막이 안정화된 후에는 오히려 생물막의 산소투과와 영양분의 접촉을 떨어뜨리는 역할을 하여 기질 제거율을 저하시키는 작용을 하는 것으로 나타났다.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.73-80
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• 2007

Biofilm media was equipped in two-compartmented wastewater treatment bioreactor which was separated by porcelain septum. DC 2.0 volt of electric potential was charged to anodic (oxidative) biofilm media (ABM) to induce oxidation potential but not to that of carbon (neutral) biofilm media (CBM) that was used for control test. Biofilm structure, biomass variation, Off variation and wastewater treatment efficiency in the bioreactor equipped with ABM (ABM-bioreactor) and CBM (CBM-bioreactor). Time-coursed variation of biofilm structure forming on surface of ABM and CBM was observed by scanning electron microscopy. The biofilm growing on ABM was dispersed on surface and was not completely covered the media but the biofilm growing on CBM was continuously increased and finally covered the media. The ORP of CBM was decreased to 100 mV, which was reciprocally proportional to the biomass growth. However, the ORP of ABM was about 800 mV, which was maintained during operation for about 60 days. The treatment efficiency of COD in the ABM bioreactor was 2 times higher than those in the CBM bioreactor. From these results, we proposed that electrochemical oxidation potential charged to biofilm media may inhibit formation of biofilm extremely condensed and activate bacterial cell metabolism.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.108-113
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• 2014

Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Vibrio vulnificus are Gram-negative human pathogens, which exert their virulence through quorum sensing (QS) regulation. The infection of these pathogens have been known to be mediated by biofilm formation in many cases and this study carried out the time-course analysis of biofilm formation depending on the QS regulation in P. aeruginosa and V. vulnificus. In P. aeruginosa, our results demonstrated that QS-deficient mutant better attached to surface at initial stage of biofilm formation, but poorly proceeded to the maturation of the biofilm structure, while wild type less attached at initial stage but developed highly structured biofilm at late stage. Because of this, the quantitative comparison of biofilm formation between wild type and the QS mutant showed the reversion; the QS mutant formed more biofilm until 10 h after inoculation than wild type, but wild type formed much more biofilm after 10 h than QS mutant. V. vulnificus has been reported to form more biofilm with the mutation on QS system. When we performed the same time-course analysis of the V. vulnificus biofilm formation, the reversion was not detected even with prolonged culture for 108 h and the QS mutant always forms more biofilm than wild type. These results indicate that the QS regulation negatively affects the attachment at early stage but positively facilitates the biofilm maturation at late stage in P. aeruginosa, while the QS regulation has a negative effect on the biofilm formation throughout the biofilm development in V. vulnificus. Based on our results, we suggest that the developmental stage of biofilm and bacterial species should be considered when the QS system is targeted for biofilm control.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.337-343
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• 2001

Activated carbon particles of 1.274 mm diameter and sand particles of 0.455 mm diameter were employed as the support of the biofilm formed in fluidized bed biofilm reactors(FBBRs) for the wastewater denitrification. Ethanol was used as the electron donor in the anoxic respiration. The steady-state biofilm thickness increased as the nitrate loading rate increased, and the activated carbon particles induced thicker biofilm than the sand particles. The FBBRs with sand support showed higher efficiency and rate of the nitrate removal than those with activated carbon support, and exhibited the biomass concentration of 37 kg/㎥ and the nitrate removal rate of 21 kg N/㎥d.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.83-91
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• 2012

Quorum sensing (QS) is a cell-to-cell communication system, which is used by many bacteria to regulate diverse gene expression in response to changes in population density. Bacteria recognize the differences in cell density by sensing the concentration of signal molecules such as N-acyl-homoserine lactones (AHL) and autoinducer-2 (AI-2). In particular, QS plays a key role in biofilm formation, which is a specific bacterial group behavior. Biofilms are dense aggregates of packed microbial communities that grow on surfaces, and are embedded in a self-produced matrix of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). QS regulates biofilm dispersal as well as the production of EPS. In some bacteria, biofilm formations are regulated by c-di-GMP-mediated signaling as well as QS, thus the two signaling systems are mutually connected. Biofilms are one of the major virulence factors in pathogenic bacteria. In addition, they cause numerous problems in industrial fields, such as the biofouling of pipes, tanks and membrane bioreactors (MBR). Therefore, the interference of QS, referred to as quorum quenching (QQ) has received a great deal of attention. To inhibit biofilm formation, several strategies to disrupt bacterial QS have been reported, and many enzymes which can degrade or modify the signal molecule AHL have been studied. QQ enzymes, such as AHL-lactonase, AHL-acylase, and oxidoreductases may offer great potential for the effective control of biofilm formation and membrane biofouling in the future. This review describes the process of bacterial QS, biofilm formation, and the close relationship between them. Finally, QQ enzymes and their applications for the reduction of biofouling are also discussed.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.26-33
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• 2006

This study investigated the characteristics of the biofilm removal by free chlorine or monochloramine. The simulated drinking water distribution pipes on which biofilms had been formed were supplied with tap water containing 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 mg/L of free chlorine or monochloramine residuals. The biofilm removal was characterized by measurement of attached HPC and biomass on pipe surfaces. Chlorine was more effective in both inactivation of attached viable heterotrophic bacteria and removal of biofilm biomass compared to monochloramine. Biofilm matrix was not much eliminated from the surfaces by monochloramine disinfection. Free chlorine residual of 2.0 mg/L was found to be effective in biomass removal. However, biofilm level as low as $10CFU/cm^2$ of attached HPC and $5{\mu}g/cm^2$ of biomass still remained on the surfaces at 2.0 mg/L of chlorine residual. The measurement of biomass appeared to be a useful means in evaluating the characteristics of biofilm removal.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.81-87
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• 2006

The industrial systems contain many sites and components susceptible to biofilms formation. Biofilms play an important role in microbial growth and industrial fouling. Thus, the control of the biofilms in industrial systems has been emphasized, however, the efficient controlling method was not provided yet. Since silver compounds have no residual and corrosion problem, the interest for silver compounds as a biofilm control disinfectant has been increased. In this study, we attempted to examine the disinfection ability of silver compounds. The disinfection efficiency of two silver compounds(silver ion and silver oxide) were evaluated for biofilms in comparison with suspended cells using well known indicator microorganisms(E. coli, P. aeruginosa) and compared with that of chlorine. Silver compounds were found to be effective in inactivating E. coli and P. aeruginosa biofilms. The reason for superiority of silver compounds as biofilm disinfectant was suggested by that silver can penetrate into the inner biofilm matrix faster than chlorine without consumption. This study reports that the disinfectant which is highly effective in inactivating the suspended cells in water becomes the less effective for controlling biofilm because of its high reactivity. This results imply that the effective strategy for biofilm control can be achieved by considering thoroughly the chemical nature of disinfects and biofilm structure and the reactivity between them.

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 2000.07b
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• pp.111-121
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• 2000

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.548-556
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• 2022

Acylases can have a significant effect on biofilm formation owing to their quorum quenching activity. In this study, we investigated the effects of acylase treatment episodes on multispecies biofilm development. A consortium composed of 9 species belonging to different genera was allowed to form biofilms for 5 days under various treatment episodes (different treatment periods, 1, 2, 3, or 4 days; and two application timings, beginning or later) at 1, 5, 10, 20 and 50 mg·l^-1 acylase concentrations. The acylase treatment for 5 days showed that acylase concentration was negative with biofilm development (linear regression, Y = -0.05·x + 2.37, p < 0.05, R² = 0.88). Acylase was more effective in reducing biofilm formation when it was applied in the beginning (vs. in later development stage) at all acylase concentrations (p < 0.05). ANOVA indicated that treatment period was significant on biofilm formation in both application timings at ≥ 10 mg·l^-1 (p < 0.05). Linearity test results showed that all slope values between period and biofilm were negative in both timings at ≥ 10 mg·l^-1 (p < 0.05, except for the later application at 20 mg·l^-1). When temporal biofilm dynamics were monitored at 20 mg·l^-1, biofilms gradually increased with time at all treatment episodes (p < 0.05), and slope values in linear regression between biofilm and time were lower when acylase was applied in the beginning (p < 0.05). Our findings suggest the importance of the acylase treatment period and application timing on biofilm control.