Enzymatic treatments significantly reduce specific biofilm components
The use of enzymes- especially DNase and proteinase K- for biofilm dispersal or eradication has become quite popular [25, 48]. However, enzymes do not completely eradicate mature biofilms and have been proposed for adjuvant therapy, degradation accessible cell surface proteins and as surface coatings to prevent adhesion which is the first step of biofilm formation [49-51]. Fig. 4 confirms thatBurkholderia biofilms are sensitive to all enzymatic treatments by a 30-75% reduction in biomass. In Fig. 4, DNase treatment is shown to be the most effective dispersal method for the B. pseudomalleistrains while proteinase K/glucosidase is more effective towardsB. thailandensis E264 dispersal.