title: Sporulation of Bacillus spp. within biofilms: a potential source of contamination in food processing environments.
abstract: Bacillus strains are often isolated from biofilms in the food industries. Previous works have demonstrated that sporulation could occur in biofilms, suggesting that biofilms would be a significant source of food contamination with spores. In this study, we investigated the properties of mono-species and mixed Bacillus biofilms and the ability of Bacillus strains to sporulate inside biofilms. Bacillus strains were able to form mono-species biofilms on stainless steel coupons, with up to 90% spores after a 48 h-incubation. These spores were highly resistant to cleaning but were easily transferred to agar, mimicking the cross-contamination of food, thereby suggesting that biofilms would be of particular concern due to a potential for Bacillus spore food contamination. This hypothesis was strengthened by the fact that Bacillus strains were able to form mixed biofilms with resident strains and that sporulation still occurred easily in these complex structures.
authors.affiliation: INRA, UR638 Interface Processes and Hygiene of Materials (PIHM), F-59651 Villeneuve d'Ascq, France. Electronic address: christine.faille@lille.inra.fr.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Faille
authors.affiliation: INRA, UR638 Interface Processes and Hygiene of Materials (PIHM), F-59651 Villeneuve d'Ascq, France.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bénézech
authors.affiliation: ANSES, LSA, Site de Boulogne-sur-mer, Bassin Napoléon, F-62200 Boulogne-sur-Mer, France.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Midelet-Bourdin
authors.affiliation: INRA, UR638 Interface Processes and Hygiene of Materials (PIHM), F-59651 Villeneuve d'Ascq, France.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lequette
authors.affiliation: INRA, UR638 Interface Processes and Hygiene of Materials (PIHM), F-59651 Villeneuve d'Ascq, France.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Clarisse
authors.affiliation: INRA, UR638 Interface Processes and Hygiene of Materials (PIHM), F-59651 Villeneuve d'Ascq, France.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ronse
authors.affiliation: INRA, UR638 Interface Processes and Hygiene of Materials (PIHM), F-59651 Villeneuve d'Ascq, France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ronse
authors.affiliation: INSERM-LPC, U1003, Université de Lille1, Cité Scientifique, Bât. SN3, F-59655 Villeneuve d'Ascq Cedex, France.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Slomianny
mesh_terms: D001407:Bacillus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology; D018441:Biofilms / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development*; D004202:Disinfectants / Q000494:pharmacology; D004866:Equipment Contamination; D004864:Equipment and Supplies / Q000382:microbiology*; D005511:Food Handling / Q000295:instrumentation*; D013171:Spores, Bacterial / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development*; D013193:Stainless Steel / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D004202:Disinfectants; D013193:Stainless Steel
keywords: Bacillus spores; Biofilm; Cross-contamination; Surface hygiene