Hydrophobicity and biofilm formation of lipophilic skin corynebacteria

Lipophilic corynebacteria isolated as natural flora of human skin were examined. Among 119 assayed strains 94% presented a hydrophobic cell surface and 75.6 % were able to form biofilms. These attributes, as well as aggregation in liquid media, were statistically connected with each other and promote the developing of biofilms on solid surfaces. This was characteristic of all the lipophilic Corynebacterium species found on human skin that were examined in this study. C. jeikeium and CDC group G2 strains dominated in this population, and they could be responsible for investigated features in the whole lipophilic skin bacterial population. These two groups are the most common coryneform bacteria isolated from nosocomial infections and these attributes most likely promote them to cause opportunistic infections.