Most research on Bacillus biofilm such as strain 3610 focus on pellicle biofilm formed at liquid-air interface. I wonder whether Bacillus biofilm can form robust biofilm in submerged surface. One example is that JH642 was found to grow biofilm on glass in submerged condition ( http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1365-2958.2001.02709.x/abstract;jsessionid=A7B97D6299D9F3348EA0D8962E7873B7.f04t01).
Never tried it but I think surfactin synthesis could block 3610 adherence. Lab strains lack surfactin so that may be why the adherence assay works for JH642.
Under the right conditions, B. subtilis should grow in flow cell reactors although, I have not tried that strain. We did grow B. subtilis in microtiter plates, again, a strain that lacked surfactin.
I think B. subtilis will grow on any substratum. We have recorded the species from may submerged substrata from the fish ponds.
Thank you, Akos. I think the substratum material also matters in the formation of submerged biofilm, besides the well-known genetic determinants in B. subtilis. In those papers, the biofilm was formed on polystyrene surface that is hydrophobic and might favor submerged biofilm formation. I am not sure whether plastic material is better than glass-like surface in terms of submerged biofilm formation.
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