Attachment and early biofilm development of methane forming anaerobic microbial cultures

Abstract Irreversible attachment to glass slides and biofilm development was investigated over time for mixed methane forming, microbial cultures grown in chemostat culture and operated at two different dilution rates (DR), using two slide cleaning techniques. No difference in the pattern of attachment was noted in 0.125 day−1 DR and 0.05 day−1 DR cultures. Cell counts increased from 0 to 100 to 250 bacteria per 104 μm2 within 1 to 3 hours, and to 250 to 450 after 1 week. Cell counts on slides which were not autoclaved during slide cleaning were an order of magnitude lower than on autoclaved slides.