The association between initial adhesion and cyanobacterial biofilm development

Although laboratory assays provide valuable information about the antifouling effectiveness of marine surfaces and the dynamics of biofilm formation, they may be laborious and time-consuming. This study aimed to determine the potential of short-time adhesion assays to estimate how biofilm development may proceed. The initial adhesion and cyanobacterial biofilm formation were evaluated using glass and polymer epoxy resin surfaces under different hydrodynamic conditions and were compared using linear regression models. For initial adhesion, the polymer epoxy resin surface was significantly associated with a lower number of adhered cells compared with glass (-1.27 x 10(5) cells.cm(-2)). Likewise, the number of adhered cells was significantly lower (-1.16 x 10(5) cells.cm(-2)) at 185 than at 40 rpm. This tendency was maintained during biofilm development and was supported by the biofilm wet weight, thickness, chlorophyll a content and structure. Results indicated a significant correlation between the number of adhered and biofilm cells (r = 0.800, p < 0.001). Moreover, the number of biofilm cells on day 42 was dependent on the number of adhered cells at the end of the initial adhesion and hydrodynamic conditions (R-2 = 0.795, p < 0.001). These findings demonstrate the high potential of initial adhesion assays to estimate marine biofilm development.

Automated summary

This study found that the initial adhesion of cells on polymer epoxy resin surfaces was significantly lower compared to glass under different hydrodynamic conditions, with this trend continuing during biofilm development. The results also demonstrated a significant correlation between the number of adhered cells and biofilm cells, highlighting the potential of initial adhesion assays in estimating marine biofilm development.