Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a ubiquitous member of marine biofilm, and reduces thiosulfate to produce toxic hydrogen sulfide gas. In this study, lytic bacteriophages were isolated and applied to inhibit the growth of P. aeruginosa in planktonic mode at different temperature, pH, and salinity. Bacteriophages showed optimal infectivity at a multiplicity of infection of 10 in saline conditions, and demonstrated lytic abilities over all tested temperature (25, 30, 37, and 45°C) and pH 6–9. Planktonic P. aeruginosa exhibited significantly longer lag phase and lower specific growth rates upon exposure to bacteriophages. Bacteriophages were subsequently applied to P. aeruginosa-enriched biofilm and were determined to lower the relative abundance of Pseudomonas-related taxa from 0.17 to 5.58% in controls to 0.01–0.61% in treated microbial communities. The relative abundance of Alphaproteobacteria, Pseudoalteromonas, and Planococcaceae decreased, possibly due to the phage-induced disruption of the biofilm matrix. Lastly, when applied to mitigate biofouling of ultrafiltration membranes, bacteriophages were determined to reduce the transmembrane pressure increase by 18% when utilized alone, and by 49% when used in combination with citric acid. The combined treatment was more effective compared with the citric acid treatment alone, which reported ca. 30% transmembrane pressure reduction. Collectively, the findings demonstrated that bacteriophages can be used as a biocidal agent to mitigate undesirable P. aeruginosa-associated problems in seawater applications.

a b s t r a c tSeawater is increasingly being used as a source for various industrial applications. For such applications, biofilm growth creates various problems including but not limited to pipe biocorrosion. In this study, it is hypothesized that the material type is preferred by certain bacterial populations in the seawater to attach and establish biofilms. By comparing differences in the total cell counts and microbial communities attached to high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polycarbonate, stainless steel (SS316) and titanium, the appropriate material can be used to minimize biofilm growth. All four materials have hydrophilic surfaces, but polycarbonate exhibits higher surface roughness. There were no significant differences in the cell numbers attached to polycarbonate, HDPE and titanium. Instead, there were significantly fewer cells attached to SS316. However, there was a higher relative abundance of genera associated with opportunistic pathogens on SS316. Copy numbers of genes representing Desulfobacteraceae and Desulfobulbaceae, both of which are sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB), were approximately 10-fold higher in biofilms sampled from SS316. The enrichment of SRB in the biofilm associated with SS316 indicates that this material may be prone to biocorrosion. This study highlights the need for industries to consider the choice of material used in seawater applications to minimize microbial-associated problems.

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