Biofilm Formation Assay in Pseudomonas syringae

Xiaolong Shao; Yingpeng Xie; Yingchao Zhang; Xin Deng

doi:10.21769/BioProtoc.3237

Biofilm Formation Assay in Pseudomonas syringae

Bio Protoc. 2019 May 20;9(10):e3237. doi: 10.21769/BioProtoc.3237.

Authors

Xiaolong Shao¹, Yingpeng Xie², Yingchao Zhang¹, Xin Deng²

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology and Technology, Ministry of Education, TEDA Institute of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Nankai University, Tianjin 300457, China.
² Department of Biomedical Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR, China.

Abstract

Pseudomonas syringae is a model plant pathogen that infects more than 50 plant species worldwide, thus leading to significant yield loss. Pseudomonas biofilm always adheres to the surfaces of medical devices or host cells, thereby contributing to infection. Biofilm formation can be visualized on numerous matrixes, including coverslips, silicone tubes, polypropylene and polystyrene. Confocal laser scanning microscopy can be used to visualize and analyze biofilm structure. In this study, we modified and applied the current method of P. aeruginosa biofilm measurement to P. syringae, and developed a convenient protocol to visualize P. syringae biofilm formation using a borosilicate glass tube as the matrix coupled with crystal violet staining.

Keywords: Biofilm; Borosilicate glass; Crystal violet; Plant pathogen; Pseudomonas syringae; Visualization.