Formation and characterization of biofilms formed by salt tolerant yeast strains in seawater-based growth medium

Yeast whole cells have been widely used in modern biotechnology as biocatalysts to generate numerous compounds of industrial, chemical, and pharmaceutical importance. Since many of the biocatalysis utilizing manufactures have become more concerned about environmental issues, seawater is now considered a sustainable alternative to freshwater for biocatalytic processes. This approach plausibly commenced new research initiatives into exploration of salt tolerant yeast strains. Recently, there has also been a growing interest in possible applications of microbial biofilms in the field of biocatalysis. In these complex communities, cells demonstrate higher resistance to adverse environmental conditions due to their embedment in an extracellular matrix, in which physical, chemical, and physiological gradients exist. Considering these two topics, seawater and biofilms, in this work we characterized biofilm formation in seawater-based growth media by several salt tolerant yeast strains with previously demonstrated bocatalytic capacities. The tested strains formed both air-liquid-like biofilms and biofilms on silicone surfaces, with Debaryomyces fabryi, Schwanniomyces etchellsii, S. polymorphus and Kluyveromyces marxianus showing the highest biofilm formation. The extracted biofilm extracellular matrices mostly consisted of carbohydrates and proteins. The latter group was primarily represented by enzymes involved in metabolic processes, particularly the biosynthetic ones, and in the response to stimuli. Specific features were also found in the carbohydrate composition of the extracellular matrix, which were dependent both on the yeast isolate and the nature of formed biofilms. Overall, our findings presented herein provide a unique data resource for further development and optimization of biocatalytic processes and applications employing seawater and halotolerant yeast biofilms.