Biofilm production among pseudomonas from the food industry

Abstract

Pseudomonas are gram-negative bacteria which show great diversity of metabolic activity and are found in a variety of niches. Existences of the Pseudomonas spp. in the biofilm forms are posing problems in the food industries due to their potential of contaminating food and the food products. These unique microbial structures are more resistant to physical and chemical stress than the planktonic form of life. Therefore, Pseudomonas spp. is of great concern particularly to the food industries. The study is intended to achieve the greater knowledge on the biofilm formation by Pseudomonas spp. and the enzymatic action to prevent it. Twenty- seven different Pseudomonas strains from different food processing plants and reference laboratory, were tested. Identification of the strains were performed by API 20NE methodology. These strains were subjected to form biofilm in laboratory conditions. The study focused on capacity of the individual strain to form biofilm and the effectiveness of the disinfectant and enzymes to inhibit the biofilm produced by the strains. In the study, four Pseudomonas strains out of twenty-seven were identified differently from that of 16 s RNA technology. Different Pseudomonas species showed different level of biofilm in different cultural conditions but the best biofilm formation have been found in TSBNG medium. Pseudomonas fluoresecens (3831) Pseudomonas putida (2.12) and Pseudomonas fragi (96.6) stood the best among biofilm forming Pseudomonas strains. In addition, Dispersin B, Proteinase K, DNase and Chlorine, were applied to inhibit biofilm produced by the different Pseudomonas strains, where activities of these compounds were found to be less effective. The findings of the present study showed that enzymes are very low effective in inhibition of biofilm produced by Pseudomonas strains.