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Introduction

The Biofilm World: Why and When

The Biofilm World: Why and When

Number of publications related to biofilms from 1975 to 2020. The first publication mentioning biofilms dates back to 1975. Pubmed search conducted on April 23th, 2021.

Is now well accepted that biofilms represent the most abundant life state of microbes. This knowledge determined a paradigm shift in the microbiology field [i,ii,iii,iv].

Examples of ubiquity of biofilms and general classification into good and harmful structures for the human body. Fighting the “bad biofilms” is challenging because of factors such as the vast capacity of adaptation of microorganisms, their ability to survive at high drug concentrations, and their defense and recalcitrance mechanisms.

The presence of some biofilms in the human body is a physiological condition. Healthy individuals harbor millions of bacteria — roughly 1021 bacterial cells are found just on human skin [xv,xvi].

A growing number of biofilm-related studies (see Figure below) reveal a multitude of adaptive strategies, sophisticated complexity, and organization across different kinds of strains.

Examples of Biofilm Ubiquity

“Good” Biofilms

“Bad” Biofilms

Wastewater industrial solutions [v,vi,vii]

Human microbiome [viii]

Bioremediation [ix]

Nosocomial infections, human health [x]

Human activities [xi,xii,xiii]

Deterioration [xiv]

  1.   Costerton, J.W.; Geesey, G.G.; Cheng, K.J. How bacteria stick. Sci. Am. 1978, 238(1): 86-95.

  2. Costerton, J.W.; Cheng, K.J.; Geesey, G.G.; Ladd, T.I.; Nickel, J.C.; Dasgupta, M.; Marrie, T.J. Bacterial biofilms in nature and disease. Annu. Rev. Microbiol. 1987, 41(1):435-464

  3. Harrison, J.J.; Turner, R.J.; Marques, L.L.; Ceri, H. Biofilms: a new understanding of these microbial communities is driving a revolution that may transform the science of microbiology. Am. Sci. 2005, 93(6): 508-515.

  4. Bjarnsholt, T.; Buhlin, K.; Dufrêne, Y.F.; Gomelsky, M.; Moroni, A.; Ramstedt, M.; Rumbaugh, K.P.; Schulte T.; Sun, L.; Åkerlund, B.; Römling U. Biofilm formation–what we can learn from recent developments. J. Intern. Med. 2018, 284(4): 332-345.

  5. Bell, T.; Newman, J.A.; Silverman, B.W.; Turner, S.L.; Lilley, A.K. The contribution of species richness and composition to bacterial services. Nature. 2005, 436(7054): 1157.
  6. Mitra, A.; Mukhopadhyay, S. Biofilm mediated decontamination of pollutants from the environment. AIMS Bioengin. 2015, 3(1):44-59.
  7. Robertson, S.R.; McLean, R.J. Beneficial biofilms. AIMS Bioengin. 2015, 2(4):437-448.
  8. De Vos, W.M. Microbial biofilms and the human intestinal microbiome. NPJ Biofilms Microbi. 2015, 1:15005.
  9. De Carvalho, C.C. Marine biofilms: a successful microbial strategy with economic implications. Front. Mar. Sci. 2018, 5:126.
  10. Pompilio, A.; Di Bonaventura, G. Microbial biofilm: a “sticky” problem. MM. 2018, 33(1):7851.
  11. Little, B.J.; Lee, J.S.; Ray, R.I. The influence of marine biofilms on corrosion: a concise review. Electrochim Acta. 2008, 54(1):2-7.
  12. Galiè, S.; García-Gutiérrez, C.; Miguélez, E.M.; Villar, C.J; Lombó F. Biofilms in the food industry: health aspects and control methods. Front. Microbiol. 2018, 9:898.
  13. Gutiérrez, T.J. Antibiofilm enzymes as an emerging technology for food quality and safety. Enzymes in food biotechnology. Elsevier. 2019, 321-342.
  14. Rivera, L. E. C.; Ramos, A. P., Sánchez, J. I. C; Serrano, M. E. D. Origin and control strategies of biofilms in the cultural heritage. In Antimicrobials, Antibiotic Resistance, Antibiofilm Strategies and Activity Methods. 2018. IntechOpen.

  15. Vestby, L.K.; Grønseth, T.; Simm, R.; Nesse, L.L. Bacterial Biofilm and its Role in the Pathogenesis of Disease. Antibiotics. 2020. 9(2): 59.

  16. Flemming, H.C.; Wuertz, S. Bacteria and archaea on Earth and their abundance in biofilms. Nat. Rev. Microbiol. 2019, 17(4):247-260.