Data on quantitation of Bacillus cereus sensu lato biofilms by microtiter plate biofilm formation assay

Abstract

The microtiter plate biofilm formation assay is a method for the study of early biofilm formation on abiotic surfaces. It is a colorimetric technique that uses dyes, such as crystal violet, to stain attached biofilms and to quantify by using an absorbance microtiter plate reader. In this data, we evaluated the ability of 12 Bacillus cereus sensu lato isolated from soil and milk powder samples for their production of biofilms after a total of 48 hr incubation period in the 96-well microtiter plate. The biofilm production was induced by initially exposing them in diluted tryptic soy broth at its first 24 hr and then replacing with freshly prepared double strength broth for the next incubation period at 30 °C. The optical densities of the bacterial growth in the wells were read at the absorbance wavelength of 630 nm while the stained biofilms that solubilized in absolute ethanol were read at 570 nm. The biofilm measurements were calculated and the degree of biofilm production of each isolate was classified according to biofilm formation categories adapted from previous researchers. Therefore, the assay concluded the negative impact of B. cereus group by ability to form biofilms on abiotic surfaces, such as food contact surfaces in food production industries and the wide application of the current methods in research and industrial fields.