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Diffusion of bacteriophages through artificial biofilm models
Author(s) -
Hu Jun,
Miyanaga Kazuhiko,
Tanji Yasunori
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
biotechnology progress
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.572
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1520-6033
pISSN - 8756-7938
DOI - 10.1002/btpr.742
Subject(s) - bacteriophage , biofilm , diffusion , adsorption , chemistry , escherichia coli , multiplicity of infection , microbiology and biotechnology , agarose , bacteria , chromatography , biology , in vitro , physics , thermodynamics , biochemistry , genetics , gene
The simple two‐chamber diffusion method was improved to study the diffusion properties of bacteriophage (phage) T4 through a model biofilm agarose gel membrane (AGM) embedded with dead host Escherichia coli K12 cells. The apparent diffusion coefficient ( D app ) of phage T4 was calculated to be 2.4 × 10 −12 m 2 /s in 0.5% AGM, which was lower than the coefficient of 4.2 × 10 −12 m 2 /s in 0.5% AGM without host cells. The phage adsorption process by dead host cells slowed the apparent phage diffusion. The Langmuir adsorption equation was used to simulate phage adsorption under different multiplicity of infections (MOIs); the maximum adsorbed phage MOI was calculated to be 417 PFU/CFU, and the Langmuir adsorption constant K L was 6.9 × 10 −4 CFU/PFU. To evaluate the effects of phage proliferation on diffusion, a simple syringe‐based biofilm model was developed. The phage was added into this homogenous biofilm model when the host cells were in an exponential growth phase, and the apparent diffusion coefficient was greatly enhanced. We concluded that D app of phages through biofilms could be distinctly affected by phage adsorption and proliferation, and that the idea of D app and these methods can be used to study diffusion properties through real biofilms. © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2012