Abstract
Microbes play an important role in the biogeochemistry of hydrocarbons and are frequently studied for potential applications in hydrocarbon biotechnologies. The empirical study of microbes often requires their cultivation, a problematic proposition as approximately only 1% of bacteria may be cultured by traditional methods. One promising strategy to grow the “unculturables” is to grow environmental microbes directly as mixed species biofilms – surface-bound, slime-encapsulated microbial communities. Mixed species biofilms can mimic natural environmental conditions and support microbial growth through beneficial social interactions between microbes, along with the inclusion of cell-cell signaling. Here, we describe a simple, flexible method for growing environmental mixed species biofilms in vitro using the Calgary Biofilm Device (CBD). Additionally, we describe a battery of assays for biofilm characterization. Using our approach, we have successfully grown mixed-species biofilms from a variety of hydrocarbon-contaminated environments, while demonstrating high retention of the original microbial diversity and the metabolic potential for biotechnology applications.
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Demeter, M.A., Lemire, J., Golby, S., Schwering, M., Ceri, H., Turner, R.J. (2015). Cultivation of Environmental Bacterial Communities as Multispecies Biofilms. In: McGenity, T., Timmis, K., Nogales , B. (eds) Hydrocarbon and Lipid Microbiology Protocols. Springer Protocols Handbooks. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/8623_2015_82
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/8623_2015_82
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