Surface fouling by Candida albicans on steel modified with various surface-assembled monolayers

Fungal biofilms are a growing issue in human health and disease, increasing patient morbidity, while causing a large economic burden for treatment of biofilm derived infections. Candida albicans is a well known fungus, which forms biofilms through initial cell attachment, followed by proliferation, and finally biofilm formation. Various surface coatings have been employed to reduce biofilm formation from fungi such as C. albicans , including polyethylene glycol, anti-fungal coatings, SLIPS, and nanoparticles. In this study C. albicans biofilms were grown on steel surfaces with various coatings including APTES, OTS, MEG-Cl, and MEG-OH to determine which surface functionalities C. albicans is best able to form a biofilm on. The surface roughness of the steel coupons was also varied to see if this had any effect on biofilm formation. Coatings that were found to reduce biofilm formation were also subjected to time studies of C. albicans biofilm formation to determine at which stage of biofilm formation was the process interrupted. It was found that MEG-Cl was able to halt biofilm formation at the proliferation stage, preventing the formation of mature biofilms. Meanwhile, MEG-OH was able to almost entirely eliminate C. albicans surface fouling on steel regardless of the surface roughness. • C. albicans is able to form a consistent biofilm on steel surfaces, regardless of surface roughness. • Hydrophobic (OTS) and positively charged (APTES) coatings had no significant effect on biofilm formation. • The negatively charged coating (MEG-Cl) was able to halt biofilm formation before the maturation stage. • The hydrophilic coating (MEG-OH) was able to almost entirely eliminate biofilm formation by C. albicans .