Paper Title
Assessment of Biofilm Production Capacity of Industrially Important Bacteria under Electroinductive Conditions

Abstract
Biofilms refer to biological deposits consisting of both microbes and their extracellular products on biotic and abiotic surfaces. Despite their detrimental effects in medicine, biofilms as natural cell immobilization has found several applications in biotechnology but have not been fully explored. In this study, Acetobacter aceti ATCC15973, Pseudomonas aeuriginosa ATCC9027, Serratia marcescens ATCC14756, Gluconobacter oxydans ATCC19357, Rhodobacter sphaeroides ATCC17023, and Bacillus subtilis ATCC6633 were screened for biofilm formation on wood, glass, steel, polyvinylchloride (PVC) and polyethylene terephthalate detection using the qualitative method. The effects of electricity (6V, 4.5A), magnetic field (1000 G) and electromagnetic flux (5 mT) on biofilm formation by each bacterial culture on the different substrata was determined and quantified using Crystal Violet Binding Assay. Electrical stimulation showed that G.oxydans ATCC19357 had the highest adherence on PVC and wood with values 2.0145 log cfu/mL and 2.402 log cfu/mL respectively. A. aceti ATCC15973 was found to show the highest adherence potential on steel, polyethylene terephthalate and glass with values 1.944 log cfu/mL, 0.9005 log cfu/mL and 0.876 log cfu/mL respectively. On exposing the bacterial culture to magnetic induction, R. sphaeroides ATCC17023 showed the highest adherence to PVC, steel, polyethylene terephthalate and glass with values 1.175 log cfu/mL, 1.229 log cfu/mL, 1.0895 log cfu/mL and 1.7495 log cfu/mL respectively while the bacterial culture with highest adherence potential on wood is B.subtilis ATCC15973 with value 1.491 log cfu/mL. G. oxydans ATCC19357 showed the highest adhesion on all the five substrata used on exposure to electromagnetic induction. Of all the substrata used and biophysical factors assessed, PVC allowed for the highest biofilm growth with adherence potential of 39% while the biophysical factors had varying effects on the bacteria. The enhancement of biofilm formation by bacteria on different substrata on exposure to biophysical factors has shown their inherent capability of being used as a method of cell immobilization. Keywords - Electromagnetic Flux, Biofilm, Bacteria, Polyvinylchloride (PVC)