Pronounced effect of the nature of the inoculum on biofilm development in flow systems.

ABSTRACT: Biofilm formation renders sessile microbial populations growing in continuous-flow systems less susceptible to variation in dilution rate than planktonic cells, where dilution rates exceeding an organism's maximum growth rate (micro(max)) results in planktonic cell washout. In biofilm-dominated systems, the biofilm's overall micro(max) may therefore be more relevant than the organism's micro(max), where the biofilm micro(max) is considered as a net process dependent on the adsorption rate, growth rate, and removal rate of cells within the biofilm. Together with lag (acclimation) time, the biofilm's overall micro(max) is important wherever biofilm growth is a dominant form, from clinical settings, where the aim is to prevent transition from lag to exponential growth, to industrial bioreacto

SUBMITTER: Kroukamp O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2937504 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature