Pravan,
will depend a bit on what you plan to do with the biofilm or to investigate in it. Choosing the surface will definitely determine the bacteria able to grow on it, have a look at the reference Environmental Microbiology 2012, 14(11):2984-2997 by F. Gich and others. They nicely show haw the surface impacts the biofilm members and how different surfaces can be used for enrichment purposes.
I'm afraid that any surface may be suitable for biofilm development. In our experiments with denitrifying bacteria we use silicone membranes and poly-lysine coated slides for physiology experiments, and granulated graphite for larger scale experiments. I think the key point is to define what your objevtive will be and consider technical of your set-up, before chossing a particular method.
In all cases and for all surfaces we have experienced, we always use a closed water recirculation loop to force cells to attach to available surfaces. This usually speeds-up the biofilm formation process.
Hope this helps.
I would not use poly-L-lysin as the enormous amount of positive charges have been described to affect viability. For oral biofilms, our lab has developed a nice system. See: Different response to amine fluoride by Streptococcus mutans and polymicrobial biofilms in a novel high-throughput active attachment model.
Exterkate RA, Crielaard W, Ten Cate JM.
Caries Res. 2010;44(4):372-9. doi: 10.1159/000316541. Epub 2010 Jul 29.
Dear Pavan, that completely depends on your research question. If the question is do they form biofilms yes or know I guess you could do a simple bottom-biofilm assay. If you want to compare behavior of you biofilm to clinical biofilms I would not do that. Urinary tract biofilms, do you mean on urinary catheters? In that case polystyrene (of the well plates) might simulate the surface. Many catheters are mode of silicone rubber which is relatively hydrophobic. In that case suspension wells (non TC treated) are better. The best would be to use a modified Robbins device or similar which would allow catheter material to be used and realistic flow to move over the biofilms.
If you want to mimic biofilms in normal urinary trace (epithelium I assume) you might want to grow a monolayer of urinary epithelial cells on a surface and study adhesion and biofilm formation in that. This can also be done in a well plate.
My biggest problem with bottom biofilms is that one also studies settling of microbes. The Calgary PEG model or similar studies active adhesion and my experience is that this allows for more realistic and better biofilms...
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