Advanced Journal of Microbiology Research

Advanced Journal of Microbiology Research ISSN 2241-9837 Vol. 13 (5), pp. 001-006, May, 2019. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

A simple and rapid differentiation method for combating therapeutically challenging planktonic and biofilm-producing Staphylococcus aureus

Salman Sahab Atshan^1,2*, Mariana Nor Shamsudin^1,3, Leslie Than Thian Lung¹, Zamberi Sekawi¹ and Chong Pei Pei⁴

¹Laboratory of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

²Department of Medical Microbiology, Basrah University, Basarah, Iraq.

³Laboratory of Marine Science and Aquaculture, Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

⁴Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

Accepted 22 March, 2019

Abstract

The aim of the current study is to establish a simple and fast method that can be easily applied in hospitals for the differentiation of biofilm and planktonic Staphylococcus aureus strains. To achieve the objective, two reference strains, methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and methicillin sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) were examined using three types of methods; adhesion capacity of bacteria on polystyrene surfaces was verified using the quantification method followed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) in order to confirm the production of biofilm. In addition, to make a meaningful comparison of biofilm cells in stationary phase with a planktonic phase, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) method was used. The results from this study demonstrated that the cells of the biofilm and planktonic cells can be differentiated by the simple MIC method. This study led to the development and improvement of methods for differentiation and detection of biofilm production of S. aureus.

Key words: Biofilm, methicillin sensitive Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin resistant S. aureus, microtiter plate, scanning electron microscope, minimum inhibitory concentration, vancomycin.