I am proceeding to do qPCR to know bacterial copy numbers in planktonic and biofilm (72 hours old biofilm with frequent media change) sample. Which one show more copies of DNA planktonic or biofilm?
generally hard to answer, but I will suppose, in the same volume, that biofilm has got much more..
Depending of the volume. The cellular concentration is probably higher in biofilm
Biofilm should have higher cell count. You may need to sonicate the bioilm samples you collect to disperse the individual cells adhering to one another via polysaccharides. Planktonic cells are just a phase. This is the stage the cells go out to colonize more surfaces and once again form biofilm.
From measurements I made between the same species of Staph aureus planktonic and biofilm, I found more viable bacteria in the planktonic portion compared to the biofilm over a similar lenght of time. However I couldnt discount the possibility that some of the biofilm cells were still viable , just not cultivable.
Dear karthikeyan
I think you should consider the "population dynamics" of the biofilm you are studying. biofilms show the dispersal character after a certain period of time. usually that dispersal phenotype is ignored. After how many hours your biofilm starts dispersal, dispersal will increase the planktonic population.
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