Simba – simultaneous test for antimicrobial and antibiofilm activity

• Post by: Ana Mitrović
• 19.January, 2022
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You can simultaneously test antimicrobial and antibiofilm activity against Salmonella by analysing their growth curve. Jerica Sabotič, in collaboration with Meta Sterniša and Anja Klančnik from the Biotechnical Faculty of the University of Ljubljana, described this simple approach in the International Journal of Food Microbiology and filed a patent application.
This simple approach, called Simba, was also awarded 3rd place in the University of Ljubljana Rector’s Prize for the Best Innovation 2021. The Simba approach was tested to screen extracts from wild and cultivated mushrooms and it was found that Pseudohydnum gelatinosum had antimicrobial, Pleurotus ostreatus antibiofilm and Infundibulicybe geotropa both activities. It is important to distinguish between antimicrobial (affecting growth) and antibiofilm (affecting biofilm) activities, because antimicrobials affecting growth lead to faster development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Link (Rector’s Prize): http://www.tromba.si/zmagovalci-rektorjeve-nagrade-za-naj-inovacijo-univerze-v-ljubljani-2021/
Link (paper): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2021.109520