The Minimum Biofilm Eradication Concentration (MBEC) Assay® approach was designed to address the well-established fact that microbes growing in a biofilm may be up to 100 or even 1000 times more resistant to antimicrobial agents. The MBEC Assay® device enables rapid and reliable testing of antimicrobials and biofilm inhibitors, offering critical insights into their effectiveness. Supported by ASTM (E2799-22), these assays have been validated in numerous peer-reviewed publications.
The MBEC Assay® device can be purchased for testing in your own lab space, or testing can be done by Innovotech labs that maintain ISO17025:2017 accreditation.
The MBEC Assay® is testing an antimicrobial agent against an established biofilm (Minimum Biofilm Eradication Concentration). While MBIC is testing at antimicrobial agents ability to prevent biofilm formation on the pegs (Minimum Biofilm Inhibitory Concentration).
We typically recommend the standard MBEC Assay® Biofilm Inoculator with 96 well bases. It is useful for many commonly used bacterial species such Acinetobacter spp., Escherichia spp., Klebsiella spp., Staphylococcus spp., some streptococcus spp., Proteus spp., Pseudomonas spp., Salmonella spp., and Enterobacter spp.
The MBEC Assay® Biofilm Inoculator with 96 well base & Hydroxyapatite is used to simulate bone/teeth, so we recommend this product for dental pathogens (Streptococcus mutans, Fusobacterium nucleatum, and Porphyromonas gingivalis). Hydroxyapatite coated pegs typically result in greater biofilm growth compared to uncoated pegs, so we also recommend this choice for strains that form weaker biofilms (Candida, Citrobacter, Enterococcus faecalis, Listeria, Nocardia, fungus, yeast, and anaerobic strains).
The trough base is recommended for strains that prefer the side-to-side flowing against the MBEC Assay® pegs rather than the rotary motion; this typically works well with plant pathogens.
The 96 well base has separate wells which allow you to test different strains in different wells and have individual biofilms. The trough base does not have separate wells, it’s a tray with open longitudinal rows where inoculated media would flow from side to side on a rocker shaker, which only allows one strain per plate.
Crystal violet does work on the standard MBEC Assay® Biofilm Inoculator. However, it will not work on the Hydroxyapatite or cellulose coated lids. Please contact us for further information.
Yes! Pegs with biofilm growth can be broken off of the MBEC lid and fixed for SEM visualization.
