Bacteria predominantly grow as biofilms attached to liquid or solid interfaces. Biofilms are complex structures that contain bacterial cells interwoven in an extracellular polysaccharide matrix. The protein, lipid and polysaccharide molecules within a biofilm contain characteristic functional groups which can be identified and mapped using infrared microspectroscopy. The objective of this study...

Drinking water quality deteriorates during transportation through drinking water distribution systems (DWDS). Microbial activity and ecology, particularly within biofilms that occur on the inner-pipe surface of DWDS, are emerging as important drivers in the degradation process. Yet, we have little real-world applicable understanding of the DWDS biofilms. This paper provides a critical discussio...

background the ability of candida albicans to form biofilms and adhere to host tissues and biomaterial surfaces is an important factor in its pathogenesis. one of the main characteristics of biofilms is their resistance to broad-spectrum anti-microbial drugs. objectives in the present study the formation of biofilm by c. albicans from different sources was evaluated. in addition, the minimum bi...

Citation: Ozbay G, Chintapenta LK, Cannon A and Hannum K (2017) Effects of Microbial and Heavy Metal Contaminants on Environmental/Ecological Health and Revitalization of Coastal Ecosystems in Delaware Bay. Front. Environ. Sci. 5:26. doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2017.00026 Effects of Microbial and Heavy Metal Contaminants on Environmental/Ecological Health and Revitalization of Coastal Ecosystems in Dela...

Biofilms are a principal form of microbial growth and are critical to development of clinical infection. They are responsible for a broad spectrum of microbial infections in the human host. Many medically important fungi produce biofilms, including Candida [1], Aspergillus [2], Cryptococcus [3], Trichosporon [4], Coccidioides [5], and Pneumocystis [6]. In this review we emphasize common feature...

6 High sensitivity methods such as next generation sequencing and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) are adversely impacted by organismal and DNA contaminants. Current methods for detecting contaminants in microbial materials (genomic DNA and cultures) are not sensitive enough and require either a known or culturable contaminant. Therefore, high sensitivity methods not requiring a priori assumptio...

Bacterial biofilms represent a promising opportunity for engineering of microbial communities. However, our ability to control spatial structure in biofilms remains limited. Here we engineer Escherichia coli with a light-activated transcriptional promoter (pDawn) to optically regulate expression of an adhesin gene (Ag43). When illuminated with patterned blue light, long-term viable biofilms wit...

In this paper we demonstrate that the anodic, bioelectrocatalytic performance of wastewater inoculum based, mixed culture microbial biofilms can be considerably improved by using a consecutive, purely electrochemical selection and biofilm acclimatization procedure. The procedure may represent an alternative to a repetitive mechanical biofilm removal, re-suspension and electrochemically facilita...

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS Microbial biofilms have been implicated in the pathogenesis of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis (CRSwNP). Although biofilms are characterized by an extremely high resistance against chemical and physical agents, low-frequency ultrasound (LFU) treatment has been suspected to be an efficient and safe method for biofilm disruption. STUDY DESIGN Basic science expe...