Iron chelator, exopolysaccharide and protease production in Staphylococcus epidermidis: a comparative study of the effects of specific growth rate in biofilm and planktonic culture

1 Department of Pharmacy, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK 2 Pharmaceutical Sciences Institute, Department of Pharmaceutical and Biological Sciences, University of Aston, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK ABSTRACT Summary: The growth rate of Staphylococcus epidermidis was controlled for populations growing as a biofilm and perfused with supplemented, simple-salts medium. Production of iron chelators, extracellular protease and exopolysaccharide (EPS) by these populations was assessed as a function of specific growth rate and compared to that by planktonic populations grown in the same medium within a chemostat. Perfused biofilms increased their iron chelator and protease production with increasing growth rate. Chemostat populations decreased their production of iron chelators with increasing growth rate, whilst showing much enhanced production of proteases at intermediate growth rates (µ 0·15-0·25 h –1 ). Production of iron chelator and protease was generally 2-50 times higher by biofilms than by planktonic populations. EPS production was low and relatively unaffected by growth rate for the chemostat cultures (about 0·2 µg per unit cell mass) but high for the attached biofilms, particularly at slow growth rates (about 4 µg per unit cell mass). EPS production within the biofilms decreased markedly with increasing growth rate. At growth rates of 0·35 h –1 and above, the levels of EPS for biofilms and planktonic populations were equivalent. The results of this study clearly indicate that growth as a biofilm markedly influences extracellular virulence factor production by S. epidermidis . Author for correspondence: Peter Gilbert. Tel: +44 61 275 2361. Fax: +44 61 275 2396. Keywords: Staphylococcus epidermidis , bofilms, exopolysaccharide, growth rate, virulence factors Present address: Institute of Ophthalmology, Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, UK.