Isolation and characterization of biofilm forming Streptococcus species from oral flora of cancer patients

A biofilm is complex aggregation of microorganisms growing on a solid substrate. These adherent cells are embedded within self-produced matrix of extracellular polymeric substance (EPS). Biofilms grow in the three stage process. Initially they get attached to the substratum, bacterial growth and division leads to colonization of the surrounding area and the formation of biofilms. Mature biofilms are a complex diverse structure of dormant and actively growing bacterial colonies along with enzymes and excretory products. The major features that distinguish biofilm forming bacteria from planktonic counterparts are surface attachments ability, high population density, extracellular polymeric substances (Beer and Stoodley, 2006). Oral microbial-plaque is the community of microorganisms found on ISSN: 2319-7706 Special Issue-2 (May-2015) pp. 38-47 http://www.ijcmas.com