An Attractive Surface: Gram-Negative Bacterial Biofilms

Mark A. Schembri, Michael Givskov, and Per Klemm^*

Center for Microbial Interactions, BioCentrum-DTU, Bldg. 301, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800 Lyngby, Denmark.

Gloss: Biofilms are complex communities of bacteria living in close association with each other and a surface. Bacteria known to cause human disease--including urinary tract infections, infections resulting from the use of medical devices, and persistent, chronic infections of the ear, gums, and heart--can form biofilms. Members of the biofilm exhibit an extraordinary resistance to conventional antibiotics, biocides, and hydrodynamic shear forces when compared to their free-swimming counterparts. In this review, we describe several types of signal transduction that Gram-negative bacteria employ during the adhesion and expansion stages of biofilm formation, as well as discuss quorum-sensing (the ability to detect the concentration of bacteria) in relation to the production of virulence factors.

*Corresponding author: Telephone, +45 45 25 25 06; fax, +45 45 93 28 09; e-mail, per.klemm{at}biocentrum.dtu.dk

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