The role of biofilm in the development and dissemination of ubiquitous pathogens in drinking water distribution systems: an overview of surveillance, outbreaks, and prevention

Formation, Development, and Cross-Species Interactions in Biofilms

“…Microorganisms grow in water distribution systems mainly by forming biofilms. Drinking water contaminated by pathogenic bacteria could damage human health and cause waterborne diseases ( Hemdan et al, 2021 ). It is important to explore effective methods to control biofilm formation and dispersion of biofilms that are ubiquitous in human society.…”

Metal Complexes—A Promising Approach to Target Biofilm Associated Infections

“…As result, biofilm development unfolds into several distinctive steps shown in Figure 1 , whereas the specific mechanisms of evolution can differ based on the involved microbial populations and the local environmental conditions [ 29 , 30 ]. The four basic steps of biofilm development are [ 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ]: Adhesion in which the planktonic cells are reversibly attached to the solid biotic/abiotic surfaces; the bacterial attachment on the biotic/abiotic surfaces involves both physical and chemical interactions such as Brownian movements, van der Waals and electrostatic attraction that contribute to the initial phase of microbial adhesion, as well as interactions between these surfaces and the bacterial adhesins, represented by polymeric species exposed on the surface of cells that enable the formation of a “key-lock” bond between the cell and the surface and result in a stronger interfacial adhesion [ 27 , 34 , 35 , 36 ]. Microcolony formation following initial microorganism adhesion and proliferation, with the generation of a multi-layered biofilm embedded in self-produced EPS, a complex and viscous matrix composed mainly from polysaccharides, proteins and lipids; this matrix represents the greatest barrier to diffusion for both antimicrobials and their delivery systems.…”

“…The biofilm forming abilities of microorganisms depend on several factors such as micro-environmental conditions (temperature, ionic strength and pH), the site of development, the nature of prosthetic material or tissue, nutrient type and concentration, network design and composition, strain type and heterogeneity [ 31 ].…”

“…This extracellular matrix is a heterogeneous mixture built from water and polymeric species, such as polysaccharides, proteins, lipids, nucleic acids and humic substances, respectively, [ 27 , 29 , 41 , 42 , 43 ] that guarantee both morphology and longevity of the biofilm [ 31 , 44 ].…”

“…As result, biofilm maturation, its dispersion as well as virulence factors secretion are coordinated by density-dependent biochemical signals emitted in a synchronized way by the bacterial communities incorporated in EPS [ 28 , 31 , 51 ].…”