EbbaBiolight

Testimonial - Andrea Sass

Testimonial - Andrea Sass

Dr. Andrea Sass about EbbaBiolight 680: "In the Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Ghent University, we used EbbaBiolight 680 for visualizing extracellular matrix in pellicles formed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We found that the product labels pellicle matrix of P. aeruginosa specifically, bacterial cells were not labelled. The method revealed structural differences between pellicles of different strains and mutants, and gave us valuable insights into the pellicle structure. We were particularly impressed by how easy the optotracer solution is to use, just dilute it in phosphate buffered saline, or in medium. The cells can be grown in the presence of the optotracer,... Read more →
Testimonial - Cameron Croft

Testimonial - Cameron Croft

Cameron Croft about EbbaBiolight 680: "Our group has used crystal violet in the past to quantify the total biomass of E. coli biofilms, with mixed results. In addition to an end-point assay, we were looking for a method to quantify the development of biofilm throughout growth. In our hands, EbbaBiolight 680 has proven to be reliable for monitoring indications of early biofilm development in E. coli.” Cameron Croft, Postgraduate student in Dr. David Summers group at Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. Labeling of E. coli biofilm with EbbaBiolight 680. The overlay with brightfield images shows that biofilm... Read more →
Testimonial - Herve Straub

Testimonial - Herve Straub

Hervé Straub about EbbaBiolight 680: Hervé Straub is a PhD student at Empa - Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and and Technology, St. Gallen, Switzerland and is working on the establishment of an automatized microfluidic platform to study bacterial biofilm formation in real-time by optical microscopy. Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PAO1) grown in a microfluidic chamber with M9 medium for several days, labeled with EbbaBiolight 680. Red fluorescence channel was overlayed with bright field at 40X magnification. Image kindly provided from Hervé Straub, PhD student at Empa - Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and and Technology, St. Gallen, Switzerland Copyright... Read more →

2026

  • Xue, Y., Jin, X., Niu, J., Wang, W., Gui, H., Wei, X., Qin, J., Liu, Z., & Wang, X. (2026). Nanoantibiotic copper-cefazolin combats MRSA infection through a reverse Trojan horse strategy. Cell Press Blue, 100013. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.CPBLUE.2026.100013

2025

  • Laudazzi, M., Schifano, E., Sivori, F., Altieri, L., Uccelletti, D., di Domenico, E. G., Colonna, B., Pasqua, M., & Prosseda, G. (2025). The AcrAB efflux pump contributes to the virulence of Enteroaggregative E. coli by influencing the aggregative behavior. Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, 15, 1633585. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2025.1633585
  • Lavrikova, A., Janda, M., Bujdáková, H., & Hensel, K. (2025). Eradication of single- and mixed-species biofilms of P. aeruginosa and S. aureus by pulsed streamer corona discharge cold atmospheric plasma. Science of The Total Environment, 959, 178184. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2024.178184
  • Guagliano, G., Peluso, E., Butnarasu, C. S., Restivo, E., Sardelli, L., Frasca, E., Petrini, P., Tirelli, N., Sganga, S., Visai, L., & Visentin, S. (2025). Mucosomes as next-generation drug carriers for treating mucus-resident bacterial infections and biofilms. Scientific Reports, 2025 15:1, 15(1), 27071-. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-10496-y
  • Peng, Z., Piaggio, A. L., Giglio, G. L., Ortega, S. T., van Loosdrecht, M. C. M., & de Kreuk, M. K. (2025). Interaction of non-biodegradable particles and granular sludge in Nereda®—— from nanoparticles to microparticles. Water Research, 281, 123698. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.WATRES.2025.123698
  • Silva, P. D. C., Hill, D., & Harrison, F. (2025). Optimizing synthetic cystic fibrosis sputum media for growth of non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae. Access Microbiology, 7(6), 000979.v3. https://doi.org/10.1099/acmi.0.000979.v3
  • Agresti, L., Boonstra, E. C., Jutte, P. C., van der Mei, H. C., & Sjollema, J. (2025). The applicability of fluorescent optotracers for in vitro and in vivo Staphylococcus aureus detection and quantification. Scientific Reports, 15:1, 15(1), 34503-. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-17029-7
  • Romero, A. I., Surkov, S., Wirsén, P., Brookes, G., Bergström, L., Tejbrant, J., Dhamo, E., Wilks, S., Bryant, C., & Andersson, J. (2025). LubriShieldTM—A permanent urinary catheter coating that prevents uropathogen biofilm formation in vitro independent of host protein conditioning. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 38221-. https://doi.org/10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0328167
  • Zhang, T., Bär, J., Risberg, L., Gómez Mejia, A., Hammar, H., Löffler, S., Otzen, D. E., Andreasen, M., Meyer, R. L., Melican, K., Zinkernagel, A. S., & Richter-Dahlfors, A. (2025). Dynamic visualization of extracellular matrix components in S. aureus colony biofilms reveals functional amyloids leading to the formation of cap-like structures. Biofilm, 10, 100318. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.BIOFLM.2025.100318

2024

  • Grando, K., Bessho, S., Harrell, K., Kyrylchuk, K., Pantoja, A. M., Olubajo, S., Albicoro, F. J., Klein-Szanto, A., & Tükel, Ç. (2024). Bacterial amyloid curli activates the host unfolded protein response via IRE1α in the presence of HLA-B27. Gut Microbes, 16(1), 2392877. https://doi.org/10.1080/19490976.2024.2392877
  • Rojas, D., Marcoleta, A. E., Gálvez-Silva, M., Varas, M. A., Díaz, M., Hernández, M., Vargas, C., Nourdin-Galindo, G., Koch, E., Saldivia, P., Vielma, J., Gan, Y.-H., Chen, Y., Guiliani, N., & Chávez, F. P. (2024). Inorganic Polyphosphate Affects Biofilm Assembly, Capsule Formation, and Virulence of Hypervirulent ST23 Klebsiella pneumoniae. ACS Infectious Diseases, 10(2), 606–623. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsinfecdis.3c00509
  • Zhang, T., Ray, S., Melican, K., & Richter-Dahlfors, A. (2024). The maturation of native uropathogenic Escherichia coli biofilms seen through a non-interventional lens. Biofilm, 8, 100212. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bioflm.2024.100212
  • Ray, S., Löffler, S., & Richter-Dahlfors, A. (2024). High-Resolution Large-Area Image Analysis Deciphers the Distribution of Salmonella Cells and ECM Components in Biofilms Formed on Charged PEDOT:PSS Surfaces. Advanced Science. https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202307322

2023

  • Antypas, H., Zhang, T., Choong, F. X., Melican, K., & Richter-Dahlfors, A. (2023). Dynamic single cell analysis in a proximal-tubule-on-chip reveals heterogeneous epithelial colonization strategies of uropathogenic Escherichia coli under shear stress. FEMS Microbes, 4, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1093/femsmc/xtad007
  • Richter-Dahlfors, A., Kärkkäinen, E., & Choong, F. X. (2023). Fluorescent optotracers for bacterial and biofilm detection and diagnostics. Science and Technology of Advanced Materials, 24(1), 2246867. https://doi.org/10.1080/14686996.2023.2246867
  • Coppens, B., Belpaire, T. E. R., Rí Pe, J., Steenackers, H. P., Ramon, H., & Smeets, B. (2023). Anomalous diffusion of nanoparticles in the spatially heterogeneous biofilm environment. iScience, 26, 106861. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.106861
  • Lorenz, K., Preem, L., Sagor, K., Putrinš, M., Tenson, T., & Kogermann, K. (2023). Development of In Vitro and Ex Vivo Biofilm Models for the Assessment of Antibacterial Fibrous Electrospun Wound Dressings. Molecular Pharmaceutics, 20(2), 1230–1246. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.2c00902

2022

  • Koch, M., Palarie, V., Koch, L., Burkovski, A., Zulla, M., Rosiwal, S., & Karl, M. (2022). Preclinical Testing of Boron-Doped Diamond Electrodes for Root Canal Disinfection—A Series of Preliminary Studies. Microorganisms, 10(4). https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10040782
  • Kärkkäinen, E., Jakobsson, S. G., Edlund, U., Richter-Dahlfors, A., & Choong, F. X. (2022). Optotracing for live selective fluorescence-based detection of Candida albicans biofilms. Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, 12(981454). https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2022.981454
  • Sass, A., Vandenbussche, I., Bellich, B., Cescutti, P., & Coenye, T. (2022). Pellicle Biofilm Formation in Burkholderia cenocepacia J2315 is Epigenetically Regulated through WspH, a Hybrid Two-Component System Kinase-Response Regulator. Journal of Bacteriology, 204(5). https://doi.org/10.1128/jb.00017-22
  • Butina, K., Lantz, L., Choong, F. X., Tomac, A., Shirani, H., Löffler, S., Nilsson, K. P. R., & Richter-Dahlfors, A. (2022). Structural Properties Dictating Selective Optotracer Detection of Staphylococcus aureus. ChemBioChem, 23(11). https://doi.org/10.1002/cbic.202100684
  • Pham, L. H. P., Colon-Ascanio, M., Ou, J., Ly, K., Hu, P., Choy, J. S., & Luo, X. (2022). Probing mutual interactions between Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans in a biofabricated membrane-based microfluidic platform. Lab on a Chip, 22, 4349–4358. https://doi.org/10.1039/d2lc00728b
  • Eckert, J. A., Rosenberg, M., Rhen, M., Choong, F. X., & Richter-Dahlfors, A. (2022). An optotracer-based antibiotic susceptibility test specifically targeting the biofilm lifestyle of Salmonella. Biofilm, 4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bioflm.2022.100083

2021

  • Rodríguez-Rojas, A., Baeder, D. Y., Johnston, P., Regoes, R. R., & Rolff, J. (2021). Bacteria primed by antimicrobial peptides develop tolerance and persist. PLoS Pathogens, 17(3), 1–30. https://doi.org/10.1371/JOURNAL.PPAT.1009443
  • Merkl, P., Aschtgen, M. S., Henriques-Normark, B., & Sotiriou, G. A. (2021). Biofilm interfacial acidity evaluation by pH-Responsive luminescent nanoparticle films. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 171(October 2020), 112732. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bios.2020.112732
  • Choong, F. X., Huzell, S., Rosenberg, M., Eckert, J. A., Nagaraj, M., Zhang, T., Melican, K., Otzen, D. E., & Richter-Dahlfors, A. (2021). A semi high-throughput method for real-time monitoring of curli producing Salmonella biofilms on air-solid interfaces. Biofilm, 3(September), 100060. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bioflm.2021.100060

EbbaBiolight fluorescence spectra

We named our EbbaBiolight molecules after their peak emission wavelength when they are bound to their target. That means, when EbbaBiolight is bound to a target, it will emit fluorescence at peak emission indicated by the number associated with its name.

To view the excitation and emission spectra, please select your EbbaBiolight below :

Monitoring curli production in liquid culture using EbbaBiolight

Monitoring curli production in liquid culture using EbbaBiolight

This protocol describes how to monitor kinetics of Salmonella extracellular matrix (curli) production in liquid culture. The method described here is based on Choong et al. (2016) npj Biofilms and Microbiomes, 2, 16024 where isogenic mutants of S. Enteritidis were used to identify the extracellular matrix components curli and cellulose as targets for optotracer binding. When used as described, EbbaBiolight does not label Salmonella cell wall and does not influence biofilm formation. Materials: EbbaBiolight Growth medium Bacteria on standard culture plate 96-well plate (round bottom) with cover Deionized water Equipment: Incubator (28°C) Shaking Incubator (37°C) Fluorescence plate reader Assay Procedure:... Read more →
Monitoring curli in bacterial biofilms forming on semi-solid agar

Monitoring curli in bacterial biofilms forming on semi-solid agar

This protocol describes how to use EbbaBiolight to visualise curli in biofilm forming on semi-solid agar in real-time. Curli is a functional amyloid produced by many Enterobactericeae involved in adhesion to surfaces, cell aggregation, and biofilm formation. EbbaBiolight are versatile molecules that have been reported to target various structures in the cell wall of gram-positive bacteria and the extracellular matrix of gram-negative bacteria. Curli has been identified as one of the major targets for EbbaBiolight in Salmonella biofilms using wildtype bacteria as well as curli deficient (ΔcsgA) strains. For reference, see Choong et al. (2021) Biofilms, 3, 100060. We recommend... Read more →
Labeling of surface biofilm using EbbaBiolight

Labeling of surface biofilm using EbbaBiolight

This protocol describes how to grow Salmonella biofilm at an air-liquid interface using inclined glass coverslips and how to visualize Salmonella extracellular matrix component curli using EbbaBiolight. The method described here is based on Choong et al. (2016) npj Biofilms and Microbiomes, 2, 16024 where isogenic mutants of S. Enteritidis were used to identify the extracellular matrix components curli and cellulose as targets for optotracer binding. When used as recommended, EbbaBiolight does not label Salmonella cell wall and does not influence biofilm formation. If adding EbbaBiolight during biofilm growth is not feasible, it can also be applied after the biofilm... Read more →
Optotracing with EbbaBiolight

EbbaBiolight fluorescent tracer molecules are optotracers. Unlike conventional fluorescent dyes, optotracers bind promiscuously to...

What is the role of biofilms in urinary tract infections?

What is the role of biofilms in urinary tract infections?

Ebba Biotech welcomes you to tune in to our webinar featuring Dr. Ramon Maset from University College London. During his talk, Dr. Maset will present his research about the role of biofilms in urinary tract infections and highlight how the use of advanced tools like EbbaBiolight can help deepen our understanding of these infections. Dr. Maset graduated in Biochemistry and Biomedical Science (University of Valencia, Spain), followed by a research internship at the University of East Anglia (UK). He completed an MSc in the Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Programme (IBRP) at the University of Warwick (UK), which was funded by the... Read more →
Opto-electronically active Materials for Infection Detection and Control

Opto-electronically active Materials for Infection Detection and Control

Ebba Biotech welcomes you to listen to our resident expert from the Center for the Advancement of the Integrated Medical and Engineering Sciences (AIMES) at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden - Dr. Susanne Löffler. During this talk titled "Opto-electronically active Materials for Infection Detection and Control", Dr. Löffler will be presenting AIMES research about using optotracers for infection detection and control. Read more about Dr. Löffler's work at AIMES here: https://aimes.se/ As a Group Leader at the Center for the Advancement of Integrated Medical and Engineering Sciences (AIMES) based in Stockholm, Sweden, Dr. Löffler specialises in Organic Bioelectronics for Bacterial Infection. Her... Read more →
Chemical sensors enable scientists to watch bacterial cities grow

Chemical sensors enable scientists to watch bacterial cities grow

The Research Square video provides a summary of a publication by Choong et al. about a new semi-high throughput metod to monitor biofilm formation in Salmonella using EbbaBiolight. Please have a look on our summary article for more information. Read more →
Discovering an Antibiofilm Therapy for Urinary Tract Infections

Discovering an Antibiofilm Therapy for Urinary Tract Infections

Ebba Biotech welcomes you to listen to Dr. Ashraf Zarkan from University of Cambridge presenting his work on antibiofilm therapies for urinary tract infections using EbbaBiolight. About the speaker: Ashraf Zarkan is a microbiologist with a pharmaceutical background, holding a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Cambridge. He did his bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Chemistry followed by an MSc in Microbiology. He has a broad repertoire of training skills that range from experimental research to computational approaches to data analysis. Ash is passionate about tackling the increasing problem with antibiotic resistance, and his research has been focused... Read more →
Optotracers - multifunctional fluorescent tracers

Optotracers - multifunctional fluorescent tracers

On the first of June 2021, Ferdinand Choong, Ebba Biotech's co-founder, and Assistant Professor at Karolinska Institutet and AIMES (Center for the Advancement of Integrated Medical and Engineering), presented his research using Ebba Biotech's optotracers at the digital event Lab & Diagnostics of the Future 2021, held by Life Science Sweden. At this event, Ferdinand spoke about Ebba Biotech's optotracers multifunctional tracer for disease research and diagnostics. He explains the technical concept in large and Ebba Biotech's three product series, Amytracker - used to detect amyloids and other protein aggregates, Ebba Biolight - used to detect bacteria and biofilm, Carbotrace... Read more →
Optotracing for detection & quantification of Staphylococci

Optotracing for detection & quantification of Staphylococci

Ebba Biotech welcomes you to listen to Dr. Karen Butina present her research findings using EbbaBiolight-like molecules. This webinar will focus on the use of the Optotracer molecules and technology applied on Staphylococci bacteria. You can read more about Dr. Butina's work here. DISCLAIMER: Dr. Butina describes her work using HS-167 molecules. These are predecessor molecules to what is now commercialised under the product family name EbbaBiolight, which are marketed and sold by Ebba Biotech. Originally from Slovenia, Dr. Butina received her Bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology in Ljubljana before pursuing her Masters and PhD at KI in Sweden. At KI... Read more →
Agneta Richter-Dahlfors explains why biofilm is so important

Agneta Richter-Dahlfors explains why biofilm is so important

If you always wondered what Biofilms are and why its important to being able to see them, you can watch our founder and chairman Professor Agneta Richter-Dahlfors' descriptive interview about Biofilms on Swedish National TV program "Godmorgon Sverige". Read more →

Cellulose in urine

Scientists at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden published a research paper (Antypas et al. (2019) npj Biofilms and Microbiomes, 4, 26) about the significance of a test for cellulose in urine indicating the presence of a biofilm related infection. Using EbbaBiolight-like Molecules, cellulose can be shown to be present in urine for the first time. Read more →
EbbaBiolight-like Molecule used for detection of cellulose in urine

EbbaBiolight-like Molecule used for detection of cellulose in urine

Scientists at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden published a research paper (Antypas et al. (2019) npj Biofilms and Microbiomes, 4, 26) about the significance of a test for cellulose in urine indicating the presence of a biofilm related infection. Using EbbaBiolight-like Molecules, cellulose can be shown to be present in urine for the first time. Read more →