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      Biofilms: Microbial Life on Surfaces

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          Abstract

          Microorganisms attach to surfaces and develop biofilms. Biofilm-associated cells can be differentiated from their suspended counterparts by generation of an extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) matrix, reduced growth rates, and the up- and down- regulation of specific genes. Attachment is a complex process regulated by diverse characteristics of the growth medium, substratum, and cell surface. An established biofilm structure comprises microbial cells and EPS, has a defined architecture, and provides an optimal environment for the exchange of genetic material between cells. Cells may also communicate via quorum sensing, which may in turn affect biofilm processes such as detachment. Biofilms have great importance for public health because of their role in certain infectious diseases and importance in a variety of device-related infections. A greater understanding of biofilm processes should lead to novel, effective control strategies for biofilm control and a resulting improvement in patient management.

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          Most cited references47

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          Biofilms and device-associated infections.

          Microorganisms commonly attach to living and nonliving surfaces, including those of indwelling medical devices, and form biofilms made up of extracellular polymers. In this state, microorganisms are highly resistant to antimicrobial treatment and are tenaciously bound to the surface. To better understand and control biofilms on indwelling medical devices, researchers should develop reliable sampling and measurement techniques, investigate the role of biofilms in antimicrobial drug resistance, and establish the link between biofilm contamination and patient infection.
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            Natural conjugative plasmids induce bacterial biofilm development.

            J Ghigo (2001)
            Horizontal gene transfer is a principal source of evolution leading to change in the ecological character of bacterial species. Bacterial conjugation, which promotes the horizontal transfer of genetic material between donor and recipient cells by physical contact, is a phenomenon of fundamental evolutionary consequence. Although conjugation has been studied primarily in liquid, most natural bacterial populations are found associated with environmental surfaces in complex multispecies communities called biofilms. Biofilms are ideally suited to the exchange of genetic material of various origins, and it has been shown that bacterial conjugation occurs within biofilms. Here I investigate the direct contribution of conjugative plasmids themselves to the capacity of the bacterial host to form a biofilm. Natural conjugative plasmids expressed factors that induced planktonic bacteria to form or enter biofilm communities, which favour the infectious transfer of the plasmid. This general connection between conjugation and biofilms suggests that medically relevant plasmid-bearing strains are more likely to form a biofilm. This may influence both the chances of biofilm-related infection risks and of conjugational spread of virulence factors.
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              Natural genetic transformation of Streptococcus mutans growing in biofilms.

              Streptococcus mutans is a bacterium that has evolved to be dependent upon a biofilm "lifestyle" for survival and persistence in its natural ecosystem, dental plaque. We initiated this study to identify the genes involved in the development of genetic competence in S. mutans and to assay the natural genetic transformability of biofilm-grown cells. Using genomic analyses, we identified a quorum-sensing peptide pheromone signaling system similar to those previously found in other streptococci. The genetic locus of this system comprises three genes, comC, comD, and comE, that encode a precursor to the peptide competence factor, a histidine kinase, and a response regulator, respectively. We deduced the sequence of comC and its active pheromone product and chemically synthesized the corresponding 21-amino-acid competence-stimulating peptide (CSP). Addition of CSP to noncompetent cells facilitated increased transformation frequencies, with typically 1% of the total cell population transformed. To further confirm the roles of these genes in genetic competence, we inactivated them by insertion-duplication mutagenesis or allelic replacement followed by assays of transformation efficiency. We also demonstrated that biofilm-grown S. mutans cells were transformed at a rate 10- to 600-fold higher than planktonic S. mutans cells. Donor DNA included a suicide plasmid, S. mutans chromosomal DNA harboring a heterologous erythromycin resistance gene, and a replicative plasmid. The cells were optimally transformed during the formation of 8- to 16-h-old biofilms primarily consisting of microcolonies on solid surfaces. We also found that dead cells in the biofilms could act as donors of a chromosomally encoded antibiotic resistance determinant. This work demonstrated that a peptide pheromone system controls genetic competence in S. mutans and that the system functions optimally when the cells are living in actively growing biofilms.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Emerg Infect Dis
                Emerging Infect. Dis
                EID
                Emerging Infectious Diseases
                Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
                1080-6040
                1080-6059
                September 2002
                : 8
                : 9
                : 881-890
                Affiliations
                [* ]Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
                Author notes
                Address for correspondence: Rodney M. Donlan, Biofilm Laboratory, Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mailstop C16, 1600 Clifton Road, N.E., Atlanta, GA 30333, USA; fax: 404-639-3822; e-mail: rld8@ 123456cdc.gov
                Article
                02-0063
                10.3201/eid0809.020063
                2732559
                12194761
                411e6663-3952-4fa1-b059-a61db844c9ce
                History
                Categories
                Perspective

                Infectious disease & Microbiology
                biofilms and public health,biofilm ecology,biofilm,biofilm structure,gene regulation in biofilms,extracellular polymeric substances,bacterial attachment

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