Biomedical Implications of the Porosity of Microbial Biofilms - Porous Media: Applications in Biological Systems and Biotechnology - page 121

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Biomedical Implications of the Porosity of
Microbial B iofilms

H. Ben-Yoav
Department of Physical Electronics, School of Electrical Engineering,
Faculty of Engineering, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

N. Cohen-Hadar
Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology,
Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

Amihay Freeman
Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology,
Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

CONTENTS

4.1 Introduction ................................................................. 122

4.1.1 What Is a Biofilm? .................................................. 122

4.1.2 Biofilms in Medicine ................................................ 124

4.2 The Life Cycle of Biofilms .................................................. 125

4.2.1

Microbial Attachment ............................................... 125
4.2.1.1 Substratum Effects ........................................ 126

4.2.1.2 Conditioning Films ........................................ 126

4.2.1.3 Hydrodynamics ............................................ 127

4.2.1.4 Characteristics of the Contacting Aqueous

Medium .................................................... 127

4.2.1.5 Cell Properties ............................................. 127

4.2.2 Biofilm Growth...................................................... 128

4.2.2.1 Quorum Sensing ........................................... 128

4.2.3 Detachment ......................................................... 129

4.3 Infectious Microbial Biofilms—Structural and Biological

Characteristics .............................................................. 130
4.3.1 Bacterial Biofilms ................................................... 130

4.3.1.1 Biofilms Composed of Gram-Negative Bacteria ........... 130

4.3.1.2 Biofilms Composed of Gram-Positive Bacteria............ 131

4.3.2 Fungal Biofilms ..................................................... 132

4.3.3 Microbial Interactions in Mixed-Species Biofilms .................. 133

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