Structure and properties of bacterial biofilms

This thesis deals with the study of basic properties of cells of bacterial biofilm produced by PHA producing bacteria, specifically Burkholderia cepacia and Burkholderia sacchari. Two cultivation approaches were used to compare different types of cells: at first, the cells were cultivated in bioreactor providing both planktonic and biofilm attached cells, secondly, cells grown on Petri dishes were also included in the study. In experimental part the affinity of each type of cells to hydrophobic phase was studied using BATH method. It was found that sessile cells, either biofilm associated cells as well as cells taken from Petri dishes, prefer hydrophobic phases more than planktonic cells. Also size and Zeta potential were measured using Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS). It was found for studied samples that, cells in these samples tend to aggregate and the difference of size between both types of cells occurs only for biofilm of the strain Burkholderia cepacia. Finally the impact of presence various bacterial cells types on surface tension of water as well as amount of PHA cumulated in different types of cells were observed