Introducing Biofilms

Abstract

The concept that bacteria live preferentially in matrix-enclosed communities attached to surfaces has emerged gradually from scientific observations over an extended period of time, but the pace at which this concept has advanced has accelerated sharply during the past two decades. Because Antonie van Leuwenhoek examined his own teeth scrapings with his primitive microscope, he probably saw more biofilm fragments than planktonic cells, and dental microbiologists and waste-water engineers have had a lengthy association with biofilms without using that term. Early microscopic observations of marine systems showed that most bacteria adhered actively to surfaces, and the role of surfaces in the migration and maturation of myxobacterial communities was noted very early in the study of these fascinating organisms. The new concept that was crystallized in a Scientific American article in February 1978 (Costerton, J. W., Geesey, G. G. & Cheng, K. J. (1978) How bacteria stick. Scientific American238, 86–95) was that these surface associations were the rule (and not the exception) in all nutrient-sufficient microbial ecosystems, and that most bacteria in the biosphere grow in biofilms.

Soil Films in the Beverage Industry: A Review

“…The microorganisms observed are almost in every physiological state known, from aerobic to anaerobic and from exponential to stationary phases of growth 11 and they have a net negative surface charge usually behaving as hydrophobic particles 8 . Scaling and organic foulants usually originate from water and sometimes from other raw materials (e.g.…”

Antimicrobial Ionic Liquids

“…Therefore, significant limitations exist when attempting to extrapolate planktonic culture susceptibility data to environmental or clinical scenarios where the majority of microbial growth is as biofilms. This is illustrated by the NIH estimation that up to 80% of all chronic human infections are biofilm-mediated and that 99.9% of bacteria in aquatic ecosystems live as biofilm communities (Lewis, 2001;Costerton & Wilson, 2004). Indeed, it has been demonstrated that there is often no correlation between planktonic susceptibility to antimicrobials (MIC values) and biofilm susceptibility of the same species and strain to those same antimicrobial agents (Smith et al, 2003).…”

Kits para aerossol em um serviço de saúde: uma análise microbiológica após reprocessamento

“…Biofilme é um consórcio microbiano envolvido em uma matriz de polissacarídeos extracelulares resultante da aderência, multiplicação e desenvolvimento de microrganismos sobre superfícies sólidas. É geralmente formado em resposta às condições ambientais desfavoráveis, sendo o resultado de uma estratégia universal usada pelos microrganismos para otimizar a sobrevivência e perpetuação da espécie (15) .…”