In vitro effect of farnesol on planktonic cells and dual biofilm formed by Candida albicans and Escherichia coli

Abstract

Many biofilm studies have focused on axial biofilms, however biofilms in nature and in vivo environment are multi-species. Farnesol is a sesquiterpene alcohol found in many essential oils. This study investigated the in vitro effects of farnesol on planktonic cells and biofilms of Candida albicans and Escherichia coli. The ultrastructural morphology of farnesol treated cells was evaluated by TEM. According to the XTT results, farnesol caused a significant decrease in metabolic activity and scanning electron microscope images confirmed a reduction in the preformed biofilm as a result of farnesol treatment for single species C. albicans and E. coli biofilms. Although farnesol has less effect on dual species biofilm compared to the single species biofilms, its effect on the dual biofilm was found to be stronger than amphotericin B or ampicillin. Further studies are needed to clarify the role of farnesol on fungal-bacterial biofilms.

Keywords:

• Candida albicans
• Escherichia coli
• farnesol
• dual biofilm

Acknowledgements

This work was studied at Eskisehir Osmangazi University Central Research Laboratory Application and Research Center (ARUM).

Disclosure statement

Authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.