Silver oxynitrate – an efficacious compound for the prevention and eradication of dual-species biofilms

Preventing and eradicating biofilms remains a challenge in clinical and industrial settings. Recently, the present authors demonstrated that silver oxynitrate (Ag7NO11) prevented and eradicated single-species planktonic and biofilm populations of numerous microbes at lower concentrations than other silver (Ag) compounds. Here, the antimicrobial and anti-biofilm efficacy of Ag7NO11 is elaborated by testing its in vitro activity against combinations of dual-species, planktonic and biofilm populations of Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. As further evidence emerges that multispecies bacterial communities are more common in the environment than their single-species counterparts, this study reinforces the diverse applicability of the minimal biofilm eradication concentration (MBEC™) assay for testing antimicrobial compounds against biofilms. Furthermore, this study demonstrated that Ag7NO11 had enhanced antimicrobial and anti-biofilm activity compared to copper sulfate (CuSO4) and silver nitrate (AgNO3) against the tested bacterial species.