In most habitats, microbial life is organized in biofilms, three-dimensional edifices sustained by extracellular polymeric substances that enable bacteria to resist harsh and changing environments. Under multispecies conditions, bacteria can benefit from the polymers produced by other species ("public goods"), thus improving their survival under toxic conditions. A recent study showed that a Ba...

The tributyltin-based products and organic biocides which are incorporated into antifouling paints have had a negative impact on the marine environment, and the ban on tributyltin-based antifouling products has urged the industry to find substitutes to prevent the development of fouling on ship hulls. Natural antifouling agents could be isolated from marine resources, providing an alternative o...

Cells of Mycobacterium immunogenum are significantly more resistant to biocides and antimicrobial compounds used for disinfection of metal removal fluids (MRFs) than cells of the gram-negative bacterium Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes. To ensure accurate measurement of M. immunogenum susceptibility, a biocide inactivation step must be included to prevent an overestimation of killing for short-ter...

OBJECTIVES Polyquad (Alcon) (polyquaternium-1, PQ-1) and Aldox (Alcon) (myristamidopropyl dimethylamine, MAPD) are two biocides that are used commercially in a contact lens disinfecting solution, namely Opti-Free Express (Alcon) multi-purpose disinfecting solution. Their potential mechanisms of action were investigated against a range of common ocular pathogens. These were Acanthamoeba castella...

Biofilm growth in subsurface porous media, and its treatment with biocides (antimicrobial agents), involves a complex interaction of biogeochemical processes which provide non-trivial mathematical modelling challenges. Although there are literature reports of mathematical models to evaluate biofilm tolerance to biocides, none of these models have investigated biocide treatment of biofilms growi...

This study investigated the occurrence and dissipation of three azole biocides climbazole, clotrimazole and miconazole in biosolid-amended soils of the three sites (Zhejiang, Hunan and Shandong) in China following three treatments (CK: control without biosolid application; T1: one biosolid application; T2: biosolid application every year). The results showed that climbazole, clotrimazole and mi...

The microbial contamination of water miscible metalworking fluids (MWFs) is a serious problem in metal industry. A good maintenance of MWF re-circulation systems can extend the lifetime of coolants and ensure the quality of the tools produced. In MWFs, as in the other water-based environments, microorganisms usually live in the form of biofilms, the communities of bacteria and fungi attached to...

In endodontic (root canal) treatment, a multispecies bacterial and fungal infection is present in a place that is inaccessible to the host immune system and which offers physical protection from applied topical agents. All current protocols for irrigation suffer various deficits in performance, which is why further research on alternative approaches to using antimicrobial substances is warrante...

The present study evaluated the single and mixed toxicities of commonly used antifouling biocides (copper pyrithione, Sea nine 211, dichlofluanid, tolylfluanid, and Irgarol 1051) on the early embryogenesis of sea urchin Strongylocentrotus intermedius. Their toxicities were quantified in terms of the median effective concentration (EC50) reducing the embryogenesis success by 50%. For individual ...

OBJECTIVES Biocides and dyes are commonly employed in hospital and laboratory settings. We investigated the biocide susceptibilities of a rapidly emerging pathogen, Acinetobacter baumannii, and the underlying molecular mechanisms, with a primary focus on resistance-nodulation-cell division (RND) efflux systems. METHODS Biocide susceptibilities, efflux and in vitro inactivation profiles were m...