A synthetic polymicrobial community biofilm model demonstrates spatial partitioning, tolerance to antimicrobial treatment, reduced metabolism, and small colony variants typical of chronic wound biofilms
Understanding chronic wound infection is key for successful treatment and requiresaccurate laboratory models. We describe a modified biofilm flow device that effectively mimics thechronic wound environment, including simulated wound fluid, a collagen-based 3D biofilm matrix,and a five-species mixture of clinically relevant bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa,Staphylococcus aureus,Escherichia coli,Enterococcus faecalis, andCitrobacter freundii). Mixed biofilms were cultured for between3 and 14 days with consistent numbers of bacteria that exhibited reduced metabolic activity, whichincreased with a high dose of glucose.S. aureuswas recovered from biofilms as a small colony variant,but as a normal colony variant ifP. aeruginosawas excluded from the system. Bacteria within thebiofilm did not co-aggregate but formed discrete, species-specific clusters. Biofilms demonstrateddifferential tolerance to the topical antimicrobials Neosporin and HOCl, consistent with protectiondue to the biofilm lifestyle. The characteristics exhibited within this model match those of real-worldwound biofilms, reflecting the clinical scenario and yielding a powerfulin vitrotool that is versatile,inexpensive, and pivotal for understanding chronic wound infection.
History
Published in
PathogensPublisher
MDPIVersion
- VoR (Version of Record)
Citation
Khalid, A., Cookson, A. R., Whitworth, D. E., Beeton, M. L., Robins, L. I., & Maddocks, S. E. (2023) 'A Synthetic Polymicrobial Community Biofilm Model Demonstrates Spatial Partitioning, Tolerance to Antimicrobial Treatment, Reduced Metabolism, and Small Colony Variants Typical of Chronic Wound Biofilms', Pathogens, 12(1), 118.Electronic ISSN
2076-0817Cardiff Met Affiliation
- Cardiff School of Sport and Health Sciences
Cardiff Met Authors
Michael Beeton Sarah MaddocksCardiff Met Research Centre/Group
- Microbiology & Infection
Copyright Holder
- © The Authors
Language
- en