Metagenomics analysis of bacterial structure communities within natural biofilm

• Main Authors: Bahaa A. Hemdan, Mohamed Azab El-Liethy, M.E.I. ElMahdy, Gamila E. EL-Taweel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2019-08-01
• Series: Heliyon
• Subjects: Microbiology; Biofilm; NGS analysis; Bacterial lineages; PCR; Public health
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844019359316

The bacterial profiles of natural household biofilm have not been widely investigated. The majorities of these bacterial lineages are not cultivable. Thus, this study aims (i) to enumerate some potential bacterial lineages using culture based method within biofilm samples and confirmed using Biolog GEN III and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). (ii) To investigate the bacterial profiles of communities in two biofilm samples using next generation sequencing (NGS). Forty biofilm samples were cultured and colonies of each selected prevailing potential lineages (E. coli, Salmonella entrica, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes) were selected for confirmation. From obtained results, the counts of the tested bacterial lineages in kitchen biofilm samples were greater than those in bathroom samples. Precision of PCR was higher than Biolog GEN III to confirm the bacterial isolates. Using NGS analysis, the results revealed that a total of 110,554 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were obtained for two biofilm samples, representing kitchen and bathroom biofilm samples. The numbers of phyla in the kitchen biofilm sample (35 OTUs) was higher than that in bathroom sample (18 OTUs). A total of 435 genera were observed in the bathroom biofilm sample compared to only 256 in the kitchen sample. Evidences have shown that the empirical gadgets for biofilm investigation are becoming convenient and affordable. Many distinct bacterial lineages observed in biofilm are one of the most significant issues that threaten human health and lead to disease outbreaks.