Abstract
Multiple symbiotic and free-living Vibrio spp. grow as a form of microbial community known as a biofilm. In the laboratory, methods to quantify Vibrio biofilm mass include crystal violet staining, direct colony-forming unit (CFU) counting, dry biofilm cell mass measurement, and observation of development of wrinkled colonies. Another approach for bacterial biofilms also involves the use of tetrazolium (XTT) assays (used widely in studies of fungi) that are an appropriate measure of metabolic activity and vitality of cells within the biofilm matrix. This study systematically tested five techniques, among which the XTT assay and wrinkled colony measurement provided the most reproducible, accurate, and efficient methods for the quantitative estimation of Vibrionaceae biofilms.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Dr. Maurizio Labbate for providing the Vibrio rotiferianus strain. A.A.C.D. was supported by the NMSU National Institutes of Health RISE to the doctorate (NIH NIGMS R25GM061222), Institutional Research and Career Development Award, and the Academic Science Education and Research Training Program (IRACDA-ASERT, NIH-K12GM088021).
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Chavez-Dozal, A.A., Nourabadi, N., Erken, M. et al. Comparative analysis of quantitative methodologies for Vibrionaceae biofilms. Folia Microbiol 61, 449–453 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12223-016-0456-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12223-016-0456-9