I am researching topics for my graduate project and my advisor would
like to do some work with biofilms.
My current work involves the use of polymers as drug treatments and we
are just getting into the anti-infective field. It would be nice if I
could mesh the two together (or so I thought).
When I did a literature search nothing comes up with polymers and
biofilms. However through web surfing I have found a number of
commercial companies out there that manufacture polymers and use them
for treatment of industrial waste water, paper mills, cooling towers
etc. An example of this is Buckman Laboratories, who market a
polyionene compound for biofilm eradication. Have any of these
companies published their data? Maybe I am searching in the wrong
place, is PubMed an unreasonable place to look for this information? My
thought had been to look at commercially available polymers of differing
molecular weight and different charge densities and see what effect they
would have on established biofilms. There is no sense in my reinventing
the wheel if the information is out there. Can any of you out there
offer some helpful suggestions? Just to clarify, I am not talking about
the polymers as surface components but as soluble antimicrobials.
Another question (if I may take up some more of your time) was about
quantifying biofilms after treatment. I had come across a method that
uses crystal violet to stain the biofilm, extracting it with DMSO, and
measuring the absorbance in a spec. It appealed to me because of its
simplicity and ease of use. Any objections or cautions about this
approach?
Thank you in advance for your replies.
Mary Pitruzzello
pitruzzello at mediaone.net
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