IMPACT OF BIOFILM RECOVERY METHOD ON THE PROFILE OF THE BACTERIAL MICROBIOME. Biofilms in water distribution systems

To assess the impact of different recovery methods on the profile of the bacterial microbiome from biofilms, rotating annular reactors were seeded in two separate experiments with biofilms flushed from two water distribution systems located in California and Pennsylvania, respectively. Biofilms were harvested from coupons by sonication, stomaching, bead-beating, and manual scraping after biofilm thickness had reached steady-state in approximately seven weeks. High-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA amplicons was used to analyze the bacterial microbiome of biofilms.