Flemming H C
Institute for Interfacial Biotechnology, Geibelstr. 41, D-47057 Duisburg, Germany.
Water Sci Technol. 2003;47(5):1-8.
Biofouling is a biofilm problem and any anti-fouling strategy will be greatly improved if the site and extent of biofilm growth can be monitored. A suitable monitoring system will provide early warning capacity and allow for specific optimization of countermeasures. As water samples do not give reliable information about biofilms, surface sampling is mandatory. Conventional biofilm monitoring techniques rely on removal of material from representative sites or on analysis of test surfaces which have been exposed. This procedure is time consuming and, depending on the parameters to be measured, requires skilled laboratory personnel. There is a strong demand for direct, on-line, in situ, continuous, non-destructive real-time information about biofilms in a system. Such demands can only be fulfilled by physical or physico-chemical methods, a number of which have already been successfully applied for biofilm monitoring. It is important, however, to be aware of the actual parameter they refer to in order to interpret the data properly. Three levels of information can be identified: (i) systems which detect increase and decrease of material accumulating on a surface but cannot differentiate between biomass and other components of a deposit, (ii) systems which provide biological information and distinguish between biotic and abiotic material, and (iii) systems which provide detailed chemical information. Examples for all three levels are presented and discussed.
生物污垢是一个生物膜问题，如果能够监测生物膜生长的位置和范围，任何防污策略都将得到极大改善。一个合适的监测系统将具备早期预警能力，并能对对策进行具体优化。由于水样无法提供有关生物膜的可靠信息，因此必须进行表面采样。传统的生物膜监测技术依赖于从代表性部位采集材料或对已暴露的测试表面进行分析。这个过程既耗时，而且根据要测量的参数不同，还需要熟练的实验室人员。人们强烈需要关于系统中生物膜的直接、在线、原位、连续、无损的实时信息。只有物理或物理化学方法才能满足这些需求，其中一些方法已经成功应用于生物膜监测。然而，重要的是要了解它们所指的实际参数，以便正确解释数据。可以确定三个信息级别：（i）检测表面上积累物质增加和减少但无法区分生物质和沉积物其他成分的系统，（ii）提供生物信息并区分生物和非生物物质的系统，以及（iii）提供详细化学信息的系统。文中给出并讨论了所有三个级别的示例。
