This work assesses the isolation, identification and characterization of two cyanobacterial strains isolated from Morocco and Cape Verde, as well as their biofilm-forming ability at two different surfaces, in a long-term assay under controlled hydrodynamic conditions. Cyanobacteria are new sources of value-added compounds but also ubiquitous and harmful microfoulers on marine biofouling. In this work, the isola...
Although a range of disinfecting formulations is commercially available, hydrogen peroxide is one of the safest chemical agents used for disinfection in aquatic environments. However, its effect on cyanobacterial biofilms is poorly investigated. In this work, biofilm formation by two filamentous cyanobacterial strains was evaluated over seven weeks on two surfaces commonly used in marine environments: glass and...
The progress of nanotechnology has prompted the development of novel marine antifouling coatings. In this study, the influence of a pristine graphene nanoplatelet (GNP)-modified surface in cyanobacterial biofilm formation was evaluated over a long-term assay using an in vitro platform which mimics the hydrodynamic conditions that prevail in real marine environments. Surface characterization by Optical Profilome...
The development of environmentally friendly antifouling strategies for marine applications is of paramount importance, and the fabrication of innovative nanocomposite coatings is a promising approach. Moreover, since Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is a powerful imaging technique in biofilm science, the improvement of its analytical power is required to better evaluate the biofilm structure under different s...
Proteomic studies on cyanobacterial biofilms can be an effective approach to unravel metabolic pathways involved in biofilm formation and, consequently, obtain more efficient biofouling control strategies. Biofilm development by the filamentous cyanobacterium Toxifilum sp. LEGE 06021 was evaluated on different surfaces, glass and perspex, and at two significant shear rates for marine environments (4 s(-1) and 4...
Since biofilm formation by microfoulers significantly contributes to the fouling process, it is important to evaluate the performance of marine surfaces to prevent biofilm formation, as well as understand their interactions with microfoulers and how these affect biofilm development and structure. In this study, the long-term performance of five surface materials-glass, perspex, polystyrene, epoxy-coated glass, ...
Marine biofouling has severe economic impacts and cyanobacteria play a significant role as early surface colonizers. Despite this fact, cyanobacterial biofilm formation studies in controlled hydrodynamic conditions are scarce. In this work, computational fluid dynamics was used to determine the shear rate field on coupons that were placed inside the wells of agitated 12-well microtiter plates. Biofilm formation...