Comparative Study on the Impact of Growth Conditions on the Physiology and the Virulence of Biofilm and Planktonic Cells.

The aim of the present work was to study and compare the effect of growth temperature (20, 30, and 37°C) and surface type (stainless steel and polycarbonate) on the production of virulence factors, such as proteases and siderophores, and the risk of surface contamination associated with biofilm and planktonic cells. The increase of growth temperature from 20 to 37°C increased (approximately twofold) the electronegative charge and the hydrophobicity of the biofilm cell surface. biofilm cell adhesion to stainless steel and polycarbonate was 5- and 1.5-fold higher than their planktonic counterparts at 20 and 30°C, respectively. The increase of growth temperature from 20 to 37°C increased the production of proteases (twofold) and siderophores (twofold) and the cytotoxicity (up to 30-fold) against the HeLa cell line in the supernatants of planktonic and biofilm cultures. This study also highlighted that biofilm and planktonic cells exhibited distinct physiological properties with respect to the production of virulence factors and the cytotoxicity against the Hela cell line. Therefore, effective disinfection procedures should be adapted to inactivate bacteria detached from biofilms.