Electric field induced bacterial flocculation of enteroaggregative Escherichia coli 042

Abstract

A response of the aggregation dynamics of enteroaggregative Escherichia coli under low magnitude steady and oscillating electric fields is presented. The presence of uniform electric fields hampered microbial adhesion and biofilm formation on a transverse glass surface, but instead promoted the formation of flocs. Extremely heterogenous distribution of live and dead cells was observed among the flocs. Moreover, floc formation was largely observed to be independent of the frequency of alternating electric fields. © 2011 American Institute of Physics.