Laser-induced vapour nanobubbles improve drug diffusion and efficiency in bacterial biofilms

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has emerged as an important animal model in various fields including neurobiology, developmental biology, and genetics. Characteristics of this animal model that have contributed to its success include its genetic manipulability, invariant and fully described developmental program, well-characterized genome, ease of maintenance, short and prolific life cycle, and small body size. These same features have led to an increasing use of C. elegans in toxicology, both for mechanistic studies and high-throughput screening approaches. We describe some of the research that has been carried out in the areas of neurotoxicology, genetic toxicology, and environmental toxicology, as well as high-throughput experiments with C. elegans including genome-wide screening for molecular targets of toxicity and rapid toxicity assessment for new chemicals. We argue for an increased role for C. elegans in complementing other model systems in toxicological research.

Like all sessile organisms, surface-attached communities of bacteria known as biofilms must release and disperse cells into the environment to colonize new sites. For many pathogenic bacteria, biofilm dispersal plays an important role in the transmission of bacteria from environmental reservoirs to human hosts, in horizontal and vertical cross-host transmission, and in the exacerbation and spread of infection within a host. The molecular mechanisms of bacterial biofilm dispersal are only beginning to be elucidated. Biofilm dispersal is a promising area of research that may lead to the development of novel agents that inhibit biofilm formation or promote biofilm cell detachment. Such agents may be useful for the prevention and treatment of biofilms in a variety of industrial and clinical settings. This review describes the current status of research on biofilm dispersal, with an emphasis on studies aimed to characterize dispersal mechanisms, and to identify environmental cues and inter- and intracellular signals that regulate the dispersal process. The clinical implications of biofilm dispersal and the potential therapeutic applications of some of the most recent findings will also be discussed.