Figure 3.

(A) Schematic showing experimental setup for characterization of biofilm growth in uncoated wells using suspended film-coated substrates. DMABI-containing PLG films cast on the surfaces of glass chips were suspended in suspensions of bacteria contained in the uncoated wells of a microtiter plate (see text). (B) Plot of biofilm growth (as a percentage of growth measured in control wells containing PLG films that did not contain DMABI) as a function of initial DMABI loading. Films were fabricated to contain 18 different loadings of DMABI ranging from 0.001 to 0.40 µmol; a complete list of all loadings used is included in Table S1. Biofilm growth was characterized and quantified on the bottoms of film-coated wells after three successive 24-hour challenges in the presence of bacteria (see text). Data correspond to Challenge I (0–24 hours, closed triangles), Challenge II (24–48 hours, closed squares), and Challenge III (48–72 hours, closed diamonds). (C) Digital pictures of crystal violet-stained biomass present in each well after each 24-hour challenge. Characterization of the amount of crystal violet in each of these wells (determined using a de-staining procedure) was used to quantify amounts of biofilm growth and calculate the results shown in (B). Pictures of control wells that contained chips coated with PLG only (no DMABI, **) are included for comparison. To aid in interpretation of references to color made in the main text, a color version of this Figure is included as Figure S5 of the Supporting Information.