TY - JOUR A1 - Gerrits, Ruben A1 - Stepec, Biwen An A1 - Bäßler, Ralph A1 - Becker, Roland A1 - Dimper, Matthias A1 - Feldmann, Ines A1 - Goff, Kira L. A1 - Günster, Jens A1 - Hofmann, Andrea A1 - Hesse, René A1 - Kirstein, Sarah A1 - Klein, Ulrich A1 - Mauch, Tatjana A1 - Neumann-Schaal, Meina A1 - Özcan Sandikcioglu, Özlem A1 - Taylor, Nicole M. A1 - Schumacher, Julia A1 - Shen, Yin A1 - Strehlau, Heike A1 - Weise, Matthias A1 - Wolf, Jacqueline A1 - Yurkov, Andrey A1 - Gieg, Lisa M. A1 - Gorbushina, Anna T1 - A 30-year-old diesel tank: Fungal-dominated biofilms cause local corrosion of galvanised steel N2 - The increased use of biodiesel is expected to lead to more microbial corrosion, fouling and fuel degradation issues. In this context, we have analysed the metal, fuel and microbiology of a fouled diesel tank which had been in service for over 30 years. The fuel itself, a B7 biodiesel blend, was not degraded, and—although no free water phase was visible—contained a water content of ~60 ppm. The microbial community was dominated by the fungus Amorphotheca resinae, which formed thick, patchy biofilms on the tank bottom and walls. The tank sheets, composed of galvanised carbon steel, were locally corroded underneath the biofilms, up to a depth of a third of the sheet thickness. On the biofilm-free surfaces, Zn coatings could still be observed. Taken together, A. resinae was shown to thrive in these water-poor conditions, likely enhancing corrosion through the removal of the protective Zn coatings. KW - Fungal biofilms KW - Biodiesel degradation mechanisms PY - 2026 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-655014 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41529-025-00731-2 SN - 2397-2106 VL - 10 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - Springer Science and Business Media LLC AN - OPUS4-65501 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schiebel, J. A1 - Noack, J. A1 - Rödiger, S. A1 - Kammel, A. A1 - Menzel, Friederike A1 - Schwibbert, Karin A1 - Weise, Matthias A1 - Weiss, R. A1 - Böhm, A. A1 - Nitschke, J. A1 - Elimport, A. A1 - Roggenbuck, D. A1 - Schierack, P. T1 - Analysis of three-dimensional biofilms on different material surfaces N2 - Biofilms cause complications and high costs in both industry and medicine. Of particular interest are bacterial infections of prosthetic materials, which usually cannot be eliminated due to the high antibiotic resistance known for bacteria forming biofilms. The search for new materials and coatings with lower colonization potential and antibacterial activity is of great importance to reduce biofilm formation. However, there is no standardized procedure to examine the colonization characteristics of bacteria in the Biofilm state in situ. Here, we describe an automated epifluorescence microscopy system for the semi-quantitative analysis of three-dimensional (3D) biofilms on various surfaces. To analyze adherent bacteria, three materials (glass, steel and titanium) were incubated with bacteria in a flow chamber system. After fluorescence staining of the bacteria, automated image capturing, quantification of the bacteria, measurement of the colonized area and determination of the 3D biofilm height were carried out by using novel software. Furthermore, the materials were examined for their surface topography using white light scanning interferometry. Titanium compared to glass showed a significantly higher number of adherent bacteria. We argue that this was due to the higher microroughness of titanium. The colonized area was in accordance with the number of adherent bacteria and was also significantly larger on titanium coupons compared to glass. Maximum 3D biofilm height on glass coupons was significantly lower compared to the ones on steel and titanium. This novel method enables the standardized, automated investigation of the colonization with bacteria on different materials. This approach can considerably support the characterization of new material surfaces and their innovative coatings by analyzing the amount of attached Bacteria and thickness of biofilms in situ and eliminates the need of conventional cultivation. KW - Biofilm KW - Bacterial adhesion KW - Biofilm quantification KW - Automated analysis PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/D0BM00455C SP - 1 EP - 11 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-50815 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -