CDC Biofilm Reactor Research Paper Link: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0044848619310178
On January 1st, 2020, researchers from the University of Concepcion in Chili published a paper titled “Formation of biofilms of the salmon pathogen Flavobacterium psychrophilum in different surfaces using the CDC Biofilm Reactor“. This paper discusses their research involving salmon pathogens in farmed fish environments using the CDC Biofilm Reactor (CBR).
The surfaces of the holding tanks inside salmonoid fish farms have the possibility to grow a pathogenic biofilm that can be harmful to the salmon population. The species Flavobacterium psychrophilum was the primary target of this research because it has been identified as a “serious threat” to fish grown in these farms. This paper highlights the ability that this species has to form and maintain a biofilm on various materials commonly used on inside surfaces of the fish farm tanks (stainless steel, polystyrene, polyurethane, and polycarbonate). After the biofilm was grown using the CBR, it was visualized using microscopy techniques, and cell count was determined by epifluorescence and qPCR methods.
The findings of this paper suggest that F. psychrophilum can form a strong biofilm on all tested surfaces except for polyurathane. The researchers anticipate these findings to facilitate better design and construction of salmonoid fish farms in the future to help combat the growth of this fish pathogen.
The CDC Biofilm Reactor is one of BioSurface Technologies’ core reactors. It has been used around the world to study countless biofilms like the one discussed in this paper. More publications involving CDC Biofilm Reactor research can be found by searching “CDC Biofilm Reactor” on Google Scholar.