Researchers control biofilm formation using optical traps

Biofilms—slimy layers formed when bacteria stick together on a surface—allow bacteria to shield themselves from extreme environments and even evade antibiotics. In a new study, researchers have shown that laser light ...

Food-borne pathogen Listeria may hide from sanitizers in biofilms

An estimated 1,600 people in the U.S. contract a serious infection from Listeria bacteria in food each year, and of those individuals, about 260 people die, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Penn ...

Growing biofilms actively alter host environment, study reveals

Dental plaque, gut bacteria and the slippery sheen on river rocks are all examples of biofilms, organized communities of microorganisms that colonize our bodies and the world around us. A recent study led by Penn State researchers ...

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Biofilm

A biofilm is an aggregate of microorganisms in which cells are stuck to each other and/or to a surface. These adherent cells are frequently embedded within a self-produced matrix of extracellular polymeric substance (EPS). Biofilm EPS, which is also refered to as "slime," is a polymeric jumble of DNA, proteins and polysaccharides. Biofilms may form on living or non-living surfaces, and represent a prevalent mode of microbial life in natural, industrial and hospital settings . The cells of a microorganism growing in a biofilm are physiologically distinct from planktonic cells of the same organism, which by contrast, are single-cells that may float or swim in a liquid medium. Microbes form a biofilm in response to many factors, which may include cellular recognition of specific or non-specific attachment sites on a surface, nutritional cues, or in some cases, by exposure of planktonic cells to sub-inhibitory concentrations of antibiotics . When a cell switches to the biofilm mode of growth, it undergoes a phenotypic shift in behavior in which large suites of genes are differentially regulated .

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