Klebsiella pneumoniae is an opportunistic gram-negative bacterium that causes various infections and contagious diseases such as urinary tract infections, eye and skin infections, bacteremia, pneumonia, and liver abscesses. This bacterium also has the capacity to form biofilms, which are extracellular polysaccharides or polymer matrixes produced by free-living organisms that adhere to a surface and colonize. The pilus structure on the surface of K. pneumoniae enables the bacterium to attach to a surface, leading to the formation of a biofilm structure after attachment. The Klebsiella biofilm, which is medically significant, mainly forms on catheters and internal surfaces of devices, posing a significant risk to human health. In this study, the effect of five different parameters, including temperature, pH, water activity, time, and inoculum density on the biofilm formation capacity of two different strains of K. pneumoniae, K. pneumoniae ATCC 33495 and K. pneumoniae BAA-1706, was tested. A two-stage factorial experimental design method was used in the study, where statistically significant parameters affecting both strains were determined in the first stage, and in the second stage, different levels of parameters found to be statistically significant in the first stage were tested to generate a prediction model. This model will help to understand the biofilm formation ability of K. pneumoniae and identify factors affecting the biofilm produced by this strain. Furthermore, the obtained model will assist in predicting the amount of biofilm the strain will produce by modifying the parameters in the model. This study will provide significant contributions to future research aimed at further elucidating the biofilm capacity of this bacterium and the parameters affecting this capacity in more detail.
Acknowledgment: This study was supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) under grant number 1919B012204026 within the framework of the 2209/A University Students Research Projects Support Program.
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