The long-term antimicrobial efficacy of silver dressings against bacterial biofilms was investigated in a 7-day treatment in vitro model where the protein-rich medium was refreshed daily in order to mimic the conditions found in a wound bed. The use of plate-to-plate transfer assays demonstrated measurable differences in the effectivenesses of several silver dressings on the viability of biofilm bacteria and their susceptibility to antibiotics. Whereas after the first day of treatment, all dressings used resulted in a significant reduction in the number of viable cells in the biofilms and disruption of the biofilm colonies, during prolonged treatment, the efficacy of dressings with hydrophilic base materials diminished with daily transfers, and bacterial populations recovered. For dressings with hydrophobic base materials, the level of efficacy correlated with the silver species loaded. Biofilm bacteria, which survived the initial silver treatment, were susceptible to tobramycin, ciprofloxacin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, in contrast to untreated biofilms, which were highly tolerant to the same antibiotics. This acquired susceptibility was unaffected by the longevity of pretreatment with the silver dressings but depended on the dressing used. The antimicrobial efficacy of the dressings correlated with the type of the dressing base material and silver species loaded.

The increased viscosity observed in biofilms, adherent communities of bacterial cells embedded in a polymeric matrix, was hypothesized to induce increased tolerance of bacteria to antibiotics. To test this concept, planktonic Staphylococcus aureus cells were grown and exposed to vancomycin in media brought to specific viscosities in order to mimic the biofilm extracellular polymeric matrix. A viscous environment was observed to decrease the vancomycin susceptibility of planktonic S. aureus to levels seen for biofilms. Both planktonic S. aureus at a viscosity of 100 mPa s and staphylococcal biofilms were able to survive at >500 times the levels of the antibiotic effective against planktonic populations in standard medium. Time-dependent and dose-dependent viability curves revealed that more than one mechanism was involved in high S. aureus tolerance to vancomycin in viscous media. Increased viscosity affects antibiotic susceptibility by reducing diffusion and the mass transfer rate; this mechanism alone, however, cannot explain the increased tolerance demonstrated by S. aureus in viscous media, suggesting that viscosity may also alter the phenotype of the planktonic bacteria to one more resistant to antimicrobials, as seen in biofilms. However, these latter changes are not yet understood and will require further study.

Bacterial infections in the blood system are usually associated with blood flow oscillation generated by some cardiovascular pathologies and insertion of indwelling devices. The influence of hydrodynamically induced shear stress fluctuations on the Staphylococcus aureus biofilm morphology and tolerance to antibiotics was investigated. Fluctuating shear stresses of physiologically relevant levels were generated in wells of a six-well microdish agitated by an orbital shaker. Numerical simulations were performed to determine the spatial distribution and local fluctuation levels of the shear stress field on the well bottom. It is found that the local biofilm deposition and morphology correlate strongly with shear stress fluctuations and maximum magnitude levels. Tolerance to killing by antibiotics correlates with morphotype and is generally higher in high shear regions.

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Coculturing of two white-rot fungi, Dichomitus squalens and Ceriporiopsis subvermispora, was explored for the optimization of cultivation media for simultaneous augmentation of laccase and peroxidase activities by response surface methodology (RSM). Nutrient parameters chosen from our previous studies with the monocultures of D. squalens and C. subvermispora were used to design the experiments for the cocultivation study. Glucose, arabinose, sodium nitrate, casein, copper sulfate (CuSO4 ), and manganese sulfate (MnSO4 ) were combined according to central composite design and used as the incubation medium for the cocultivation. The interaction of glucose and sodium nitrate resulted in laccase and peroxidase activities of approximately 800 U/g protein. The addition of either glucose or sodium nitrate to the medium also modifies the impact of other nutrients on the ligninolytic activity. Both enzyme activities were cross-regulated by arabinose, casein, CuSO4 , and MnSO4 as a function of concentrations. Based on RSM, the optimum nutrient levels are 1% glucose, 0.1% arabinose, 20 mM sodium nitrate, 0.27% casein, 0.31 mM CuSO4 , and 0.07 mM MnSO4 . Cocultivation resulted in the production of laccase of 1,378 U/g protein and peroxidase of 1,372 U/g protein. Lignin (16.9%) in wheat straw was degraded by the optimized enzyme mixture.

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Biodegradability of drilling fluid waste is essential in the development of environmentally compatible oil and gas drilling. Biodegradation is determined not only by the enzymatic potential, but also microbial tolerance to hydrocarbons. The present study investigated the hydrocarbon degradation and tolerance of Ralstonia pickettii BP20 and Alcaligenes piechandii KN1 to drilling fluids with diesel and low-aromatic continuous phases in respect to their state: non-emulsified oil, direct (O/W) and invert (W/O) emulsions; and the concentrations affecting microbial activity and viability. In general, A. piechaudii KN1demonstrated higher tolerance than R. picketti BP20 did; but, the impacts of different drilling fluids on viability and activity of both microbial strains had similar trends. Microbial growth and hydrocarbons degradation rates increased when diesel was replaced with low aromatic oil, and emulsified. The higher productivity was observed in direct (O/W) emulsions than in invert (W/O) emulsions. Similarly, viability of microorganisms in low aromatic fluids and emulsions was higher than in corresponding diesel drilling fluids. Tolerance to low aromatic fluids increased in the order: non-emulsifier oil < invert emulsion < direct emulsion. In contrast, for diesel based drilling fluids, direct emulsion enhanced, but invert emulsion reduced microbial viability compared to non-emulsified oil.