The concept or notion of virulence factor-activity relationships (VFAR) is an approach for identifying an analogous process to the use of qualitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR) for identifying new microbial contaminants. In QSAR, it is hypothesized that, for new chemical contaminants, their potential acute or chronic toxicity may be reasonably estimated on the basis of structural r...

s for Speakers 18 Abstracts for Posters 48s for Posters 48

A method allowing the evaluation of the structure and the calculation of the volume of a biofilm, using an optical microscope, is proposed based on the linear relation between the intensity of a pixel in biofilm images grabbed on the x-y plane and the corresponding number of cells in the z direction, which allows the calculation of the biofilm thickness. The method is intended to overcome the n...

Biofilms--adherent bacterial communities embedded in a polymer matrix--are common in nature and can cause persistent human infections that are highly resistant to antibiotics. Recent work provides insight into how these communities develop and function, and offers clues to combating them.

The formation of bacterial biofilms is initiated by cells transitioning from the free-swimming mode of growth to a surface. This review is aimed at highlighting the common themes that have emerged in recent research regarding the key components, signals, and cues that aid in the transition and those involved in establishing a more permanent surface association during initial attachment.

Population level studies demonstrate that bacterial colonization of surfaces and subsequent biofilm architecture are controlled by a variety of factors that include the hydrodynamics, surface chemistry and genotype of the cell. New molecular tools now extend our ability to investigate among bacterial cells within a surface-associated population subtle phenotypic differences that do not involve ...