Assembly of a Custom-made Device to Study Spreading Patterns of Pseudomonas putida Biofilms

Biofilms are bacterial communities in the shape of exopolysaccharide matrix-encased aggregates attached onto interphases able to resist environmental aggressions. The development of bacteria in the shape of biofilms deeply affects the performance of many industrial processes which work with fluidic systems, where bacteria may settle and prosper. As a consequence industrial equipment experiments low performance issues and substantial maintenance costs. The study of how bacteria of industrial interest such as Pseudomonas putida spread in these fluidic systems is highly dependent on the chosen experimental system to retrieve such data, thus using scaled prototypes becomes an essential step towards the design of a more efficient system to handle biofilms, either to control them or to prevent them. This protocol describes how to assemble, operate and maintain a device to grow and monitor the biofilm spreading pattern of this bacterium (as a function of the fluid hydrodynamics) in a custom-made chamber larger than those typically used in laboratory environments, and how to analyze the information gathered from it in a straightforward fashion. Description of the protocol was thought to be used as a working template not only for the presented case study but for any other potential experiment in different contexts and diverse scales following similar design principles.