Role of sugars in formation and maintenance of biofilm in Coagulase negative staphylococcal (CoNS) strains

Two different Coagulase negative staphylococcal environmental isolates BP/SU1(Staphylococcus epidermidis; MTCC accession number:9538) and BP/SU2 (Staphylococcus haemolyticus; MTCC accession number:5731) show a tendency to propagate in the biofilm mode specially on low surface energy mediums. In this study we have co-related the biofilm formation of the two species on polystyrene tissue culture plates with the quantity of utilizable sugar present in the culture medium. The dispersal of the same biofilms with common dispersing agents like NaIO4, DNase, and proteolytic enzymes has also been studied. Results indicate that though polysaccharides undoubtedly enhance the biofilm formation for both the species, their role as biofilm - material adhesive agents are minimal for these two strains.