Stimulation of biofilm formation by hydrocarbon degrading strains in the presence of squamocin

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that annonaceous acetogenins (ACGs) stimulates biofilm formation in a P. aeruginosa strain of clinical origin. ACG squamocin is structurally related to the γ-lactones, a family of bacterial autoinducers that play an essential role in the quorum sensing mechanism to coordinate the biofilm maturation. In this work, 37 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon degrading strains were tested for their attachment capability and biofilm development on polystyrene microplates using squamocin as a biofilm inducer. Out of the 37 strains tested, 22% showed natural formation of bacterial biofilms that increased in the presence of squamocin, in some cases up to 40%. In the remaining 12 strains over 60% showed an increase in biofilm production and were therefore selected for future studies.