School of Botany, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
Biofouling. 2009 Nov;25(8):685-94. doi: 10.1080/08927010903089912.
Diatoms are a major component of the slime layers that form on artificial surfaces in marine environments. In this article, the role played by diatoms during the pioneering stages of colonization of three marine antifouling (AF) coatings, viz Intersmooth 360, Super Yacht 800 and a fouling-release (FR) coating Intersleek 700, was investigated. The study was conducted over three distinct seasons in two very different marine environments in Australia, ie temperate Williamstown, Victoria and tropical Cairns, Queensland. Diatom fouling occurred more rapidly on the FR coating Intersleek 700, compared to both biocidal AF paints. However, colonization by diatoms on all three coatings was generally slow during the 16-day study. Benthic diatoms do not subsist by floating around in the water column, rather they only gain the opportunity to colonize new surfaces when they either voluntarily release or are displaced from their benthic habitat, thereafter entering the water column where the opportunity to adhere to a new surface presents itself. However, once settled, fouling diatoms grow exponentially from the site of attachment, spreading out until they populate large areas of the surface. This mode of surface colonization correlates more with an 'infection' type, epidemiology model, a mechanism that accounts for the colonization of significant regions of the coating surface from a single fouling diatom cell, forming 'clonal patches'. This is in comparison to the bacterial colonization of the surface, which exhibits far more rapid recruitment and growth of cells on the substratum surface. Therefore, it is hypothesized that fouling diatoms may be characterized more by their ability to adhere and grow on surfaces already modified by bacterial biofilms, rather than on their strength of adhesion. Cell morphology and the ability to avoid shear may also be an important factor.
硅藻是海洋环境中人工表面形成的黏液层的主要组成部分。在本文中，研究了硅藻在三种海洋防污（AF）涂层（即 Intersmooth 360、Super Yacht 800 和一种防污释放（FR）涂层 Intersleek 700）的早期殖民化阶段所扮演的角色。该研究在澳大利亚两个截然不同的海洋环境中进行了三个不同的季节，即温带威廉斯敦（维多利亚州）和热带凯恩斯（昆士兰州）。与两种生物杀灭型 AF 涂料相比，FR 涂层 Intersleek 700 上的硅藻污损发生得更快。然而，在 16 天的研究中，所有三种涂层上的硅藻定植总体上都很慢。底栖硅藻不会在水柱中漂浮而生存，而是只有当它们自愿释放或从底栖栖息地中被置换时，才有机会定植新表面，随后进入水柱，在那里有机会附着到新表面。然而，一旦定居下来，污损硅藻就会从附着点呈指数级增长，扩散到覆盖大面积表面。这种表面定植模式与“感染”型、流行病学模型更相关，这种机制解释了从单个污损硅藻细胞出发，对涂层表面的重要区域进行定植，形成“克隆斑块”的现象。这与细菌对表面的定植形成对比，细菌在基质表面的定植具有更快的细胞募集和生长。因此，有人假设污损硅藻的特征可能更多地在于它们在已经被细菌生物膜改性的表面上的粘附和生长能力，而不是它们的粘附强度。细胞形态和避免剪切的能力也可能是一个重要因素。
