Biofilm management VTT provides tailor-made concepts and testing facilities to measure and control microbial biofilms on natural materials and industrial processes.

What are biofilms and why should we care?

Bacteria and fungi are primarily found in two forms: free-floating or attached to surfaces. Attached microbes build up a multispecies microbial commu-nity embedded in a slimy layer, also known as biofilm.

Biofilms form active layers on nat-ural surfaces such as plant, animal and human tissues. Furthermore, bi-ofilm formation may occur in a wide range of environments, including in-dustrial settings and engineered wa-ter systems.

Biofilms can be both beneficial and harmful. If properly controlled, bi-ofilms can be used in a variety of bi-oprocesses: waste and water treat-ments, bioremediation of hazardous substances and bioleaching of min-erals.

The main problems associated with biofilms include process disrup-tions, equipment damage due to mi-crobially induced corrosion, clogging of pipes and membranes, increased energy consumption, decreased heat transfer and impaired quality of end products. In addition, in the food and beverage industry, biofilms may re-duce the shelf life of the products or even transfer pathogens.

Biofilm expertise at VTT• Microbial biodiversity and

community dynamics in biofilms• Microbial attachment and biofilm

formation• Microbial communication • Biofilm prevention and detachment• Biofilm monitoring• Industrial process surveys and

tracking contamination routes• Utilisation of microbial biofilms in

bioprocessing and bioleaching

Tools• Aerobic and anaerobic biofilm

laboratory model systems• Selective culturing methods for

relevant microbial groups such as aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, yeast and moulds

• DNA- and RNA-based molecular techniques for identification, community profiling and functional activities

• Direct visualisation by microscopy• Biochemical analyses of biofilm

constituents• Chemical monitoring (pH, redox

potential, O2 concentration and H2S production)

Application areas• The food, beverage and malting

industry• Pulp and paper mills• Membrane bioreactors (MBR) and

other membrane systems• Functional materials, chemical and

biocide solutions• Water-intensive processing

industry

Biofilms and novel functional surfacesIn the industry a current trend is to re-duce water consumption and utilise more environmentally friendly chem-icals. Along with this development, novel tools for biofilm management are being sought. Functional coatings with photocatalytic, hydrophobic and antibacterial activity have been stud-ied at VTT for suppression of bacterial attachment, or for facilitating their re-moval with washing procedures.

Understanding microbial communication (quorum sensing)Microbes use cell-to-cell signalling in biofilm formation. We help to identi-fy communicating microbes. A nov-el research topic is the inhibition of this communication by natural means such as plant extracts

Biofilm pilot facilitiesVTT has well equipped microbiologi-cal laboratory as well as pilot scale facilities. Biofilm formation can be studied in either aerobic or anaero-bic conditions both in static systems and in flow-through cells with biore-actors. The impacts of surface mate-rials, washing chemicals, biocides or physical control means on biofilm for-mation can be evaluated with these model systems.

Active biofilms in bioprocessing and bioleachingWell-characterised multispecies bio-film communities offer a natural tool for modifying functional and nutrition-al properties of biomaterials.

Furthermore, active biofilms can be used in the bioleaching of miner-als in the mining industry and in waste material treatment.

We provide know-how from strain discovery (including bacteria and fun-gi) to their industrial applications. Our VTT Culture Collection provides de-livery and safe deposit for industrially relevant microbes:http://culturecollection.vtt.fi

Additional information:

Arja Laitila Principal ScientistTel. +358 40 737 6037arja.laitila@vtt.fi

Hanna-Leena Alakomi Senior ScientistTel. +358 40 840 5508hanna-leena.alakomi@vtt.fi

Irina Tsitko Senior ScientistTel. +358 400 114 391irina.tsitko@vtt.fi

VTT TECHNICAL RESEARCH CENTRE OF FINLAND LTDwww.vttresearch.com