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Center for Biofilm Engineering
Abstract:
"Survival Strategies of Infectious Biofilms"
05-002 Modern medicine is facing the spread of biofilm-related infections. Bacterial
biofilms are difficult to detect in routine diagnostics and are inherently
tolerant to host defenses and antibiotic therapies. In addition, biofilms
facilitate the spread of antibiotic resistance by promoting horizontal gene
transfer. We review current concepts of biofilm tolerance with special emphasis
on the role of the biofilm matrix and the physiology of biofilm-embedded cells.
The heterogeneity in metabolic and reproductive activity within a biofilm
correlates with a non-uniform susceptibility of enclosed bacteria. Recent
studies have documented similar heterogeneity in planktonic cultures.
Nutritional starvation and high cell density, two key characteristics of biofilm
physiology, also mediate antimicrobial tolerance in stationary-phase planktonic
cultures. Advances in characterizing the role of stress response genes, quorum
sensing and phase variation in stationary-phase planktonic cultures have shed
new light on tolerance mechanisms within biofilm communities.
Fux, C.A., J.W. Costerton, P.S. Stewart, and P. Stoodley, "Survival Strategies
of Infectious Biofilms," Trends Microbiol., 13(1):34-40 (2005) |
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