title: 96-well microtiter plates for biofouling simulation in biomedical settings.
abstract: Microtiter plates with 96 wells are routinely used in biofilm research mainly because they enable high-throughput assays. These platforms are used in a variety of conditions ranging from static to dynamic operation using different shaking frequencies and orbital diameters. The main goals of this work were to assess the influence of nutrient concentration and flow conditions on biofilm formation by Escherichia coli in microtiter plates and to define the operational conditions to be used in order to simulate relevant biomedical scenarios. Assays were performed in static mode and in incubators with distinct orbital diameters using different concentrations of glucose, peptone and yeast extract. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was used to simulate the flow inside the wells for shaking frequencies ranging from 50 to 200 rpm and orbital diameters from 25 to 100 mm. Higher glucose concentrations enhanced adhesion of E. coli in the first 24 h, but variation in peptone and yeast extract concentration had no significant impact on biofilm formation. Numerical simulations indicate that 96-well microtiter plates can be used to simulate a variety of biomedical scenarios if the operating conditions are carefully set.
authors.affiliation: a LEPABE - Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering , University of Porto , Porto , Portugal.
authors.forename: L C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Gomes
authors.forename: J M R
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Moreira
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Teodósio
authors.forename: J D P
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Araújo
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Miranda
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Simões
authors.forename: L F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Melo
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Mergulhão
mesh_terms: D018441:Biofilms / Q000254:growth & development*; D057219:Biofouling; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000295:instrumentation; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000502:physiology*; D057446:Hydrodynamics
keywords: Escherichia coli; biofilm; computational fluid dynamics; microtiter plate; nutrient concentration; shear strain rate