Evaluation of environmental scanning electron microscopy for analysis of Proteus mirabilis crystalline biofilms in situ on urinary catheters. Issue 1 (12th May 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Holling, Nina; Dedi, Cinzia; Jones, Caroline E.; Hawthorne, Joseph A.; Hanlon, Geoffrey W.; Salvage, Jonathan P.; Patel, Bhavik A.; Barnes, Lara M.; Jones, Brian V.
• Is Part Of: FEMS microbiology letters. Volume 355:Issue 1(2014:Jun.)
• Page Start: 20
• Page End: 27
• Publication Date: 2014-05-12
• Subjects: Microbiology -- Periodicals; 579
• DOI: 10.1111/1574-6968.12451
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0378-1097

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="fml12451-abs-0001"> <title>Abstract</title> <p> <italic>Proteus mirabilis</italic> is a common cause of catheter‐associated urinary tract infections and frequently leads to blockage of catheters due to crystalline biofilm formation. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has proven to be a valuable tool in the study of these unusual biofilms, but entails laborious sample preparation that can introduce artefacts, undermining the investigation of biofilm development. In contrast, environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) permits imaging of unprocessed, fully hydrated samples, which may provide much insight into the development of <italic>P. mirabilis</italic> biofilms. Here, we evaluate the utility of ESEM for the study of <italic>P. mirabilis</italic> crystalline biofilms <italic>in situ</italic>, on urinary catheters. In doing so, we compare this to commonly used conventional SEM approaches for sample preparation and imaging. Overall, ESEM provided excellent resolution of biofilms formed on urinary catheters and revealed structures not observed in standard SEM imaging or previously described in other studies of these biofilms. In addition, we show that energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDS) may be employed in conjunction with ESEM to provide information regarding the elemental composition of crystalline structures and demonstrate the potential for ESEM in combination with EDS to constitute a useful tool in exploring the mechanisms underpinning crystalline biofilm formation.</p> </abstract>