Biofilms: friends or foes?

Biofilm is a way of life for bacteria. They are spatially organized microbial communities with emerging properties in comparison to the free-floating form.

Microorganisms inside the biofilm are embedded in a self-produced matrix that gives a three-dimensional structure to the population. For example, this structure leads to the appearance of gradients making the microorganisms living deep in the biofilm more tolerant to environmental fluctuations, such as the application of antibiotics or biocides.

Most bacteria on earth are organized in biofilm form, they are everywhere.

A biofilm can be formed either by undesirable (i.e. negative biofilms) or by beneficial (i.e. positive biofilms) bacteria.

This article is extracted form an expert interview with Virgile Guéneau, watch the interview below!