Topic
Biofilm
About: Biofilm is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 23010 publications have been published within this topic receiving 906812 citations. The topic is also known as: biofilms.
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TL;DR: The purpose of biofilm is to protect the microbes from hostile environments or to act as a trap for nutrient acquisition, which causes problems in many branches of industry, such as in industrial water systems and the medical and process industries.
Abstract: Biofilm and biofouling refer to biological deposits on any surface. Biofilms consist of both microbes and their extracellular products, usually polysaccharides. The purpose of biofilm is to protect the microbes from hostile environments or to act as a trap for nutrient acquisition. Biofilm formation causes problems in many branches of industry, such as in industrial water systems and the medical and process industries. Besides causing problems in cleaning and hygiene, biofilm may cause energy losses and blockages in condenser tubes, cooling fill materials, water and wastewater circuits, and heat exchange tubes, and on ship hulls. Biofilm can also present microbial risks due to the release of pathogens from cooling towers or by reducing water quality in drinking water distribution systems. In the medical industry biofilm is referred to as glycocalyx when diseases of the lungs or the gastrointestinal or urinary tract are involved.
247 citations
TL;DR: Biofilm formation by Bacillus cereus was assessed using 56 strains, including the two sequenced strains, ATCC 14579 and ATCC 10987, and spores constituted up to 90% of the total biofilm counts, which indicates that B. cereus biofilms can act as a nidus for spore formation and subsequently can release their spores into food production environments.
Abstract: Biofilm formation by Bacillus cereus was assessed using 56 strains of B. cereus, including the two sequenced strains, ATCC 14579 and ATCC 10987. Biofilm production in microtiter plates was found to be strongly dependent on incubation time, temperature, and medium, as well as the strain used, with some strains showing biofilm formation within 24 h and subsequent dispersion within the next 24 h. A selection of strains was used for quantitative analysis of biofilm formation on stainless steel coupons. Thick biofilms of B. cereus developed at the air-liquid interface, while the amount of biofilm formed was much lower in submerged systems. This suggests that B. cereus biofilms may develop particularly in industrial storage and piping systems that are partly filled during operation or where residual liquid has remained after a production cycle. Moreover, depending on the strain and culture conditions, spores constituted up to 90% of the total biofilm counts. This indicates that B. cereus biofilms can act as a nidus for spore formation and subsequently can release their spores into food production environments.
247 citations
TL;DR: The evidence for the roles of efflux pumps in biofilm formation and the potential approaches to overcome the increasing problem of biofilm-based infections are discussed and evaluated.
Abstract: Efflux pumps are widely implicated in antibiotic resistance because they can extrude the majority of clinically relevant antibiotics from within cells to the extracellular environment. However, there is increasing evidence from many studies to suggest that the pumps also play a role in biofilm formation. These studies have involved investigating the effects of efflux pump gene mutagenesis and efflux pump inhibitors on biofilm formation, and measuring the levels of efflux pump gene expression in biofilms. In particular, several key pathogenic species associated with increasing multidrug resistance, such as Acinetobacter baumannii, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus, have been investigated, whilst other studies have focused on Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium as a model organism and problematic pathogen. Studies have shown that efflux pumps, including AcrAB-TolC of E. coli, MexAB-OprM of P. aeruginosa, AdeFGH of A. baumannii and AcrD of S. enterica, play important roles in biofilm formation. The substrates for such pumps, and whether changes in their efflux activity affect biofilm formation directly or indirectly, remain to be determined. By understanding the roles that efflux pumps play in biofilm formation, novel therapeutic strategies can be developed to inhibit their function, to help disrupt biofilms and improve the treatment of infections. This review will discuss and evaluate the evidence for the roles of efflux pumps in biofilm formation and the potential approaches to overcome the increasing problem of biofilm-based infections.
247 citations
TL;DR: New developments in staphylococcal biofilm disassembly are reviewed and set them in the context of potential strategies to control biofilm infections.
247 citations
TL;DR: Advances in synthetic biology, enzyme engineering and whole DNA‐Sequencing technologies show great potential to facilitate the development of more effective antimicrobial and anti‐biofilm enzymes.
Abstract: With the increasing prevalence of antibiotic resistance, antimicrobial enzymes aimed at the disruption of bacterial cellular machinery and biofilm formation are under intense investigation Several enzyme-based products have already been commercialized for application in the healthcare, food and biomedical industries Successful removal of complex biofilms requires the use of multi-enzyme formulations that contain enzymes capable of degrading microbial DNA, polysaccharides, proteins and quorum-sensing molecules The inclusion of anti-quorum sensing enzymes prevents biofilm reformation The development of effective complex enzyme formulations is urgently needed to deal with the problems associated with biofilm formation in manufacturing, environmental protection and healthcare settings Nevertheless, advances in synthetic biology, enzyme engineering and whole DNA-Sequencing technologies show great potential to facilitate the development of more effective antimicrobial and anti-biofilm enzymes
246 citations