Bacteria and other microorganisms have evolved an ingenious form of life, where they cooperate and improve their chances of survival when subjected to environmental stress, called biofilms. In these communities of adhered cells, bacteria are protected by a matrix of extracellular polymeric substances that provide protection against e.g. temperature and pH fluctuations, UV exposure, changes in salinity, depletion of nutrients, antimicrobial compounds and predation. Their success in marine environments and the number of bacterial cells in the sea, allow them to colonize nearly all man-made surfaces in contact with seawater. The costs to maritime transport, aquaculture, oil and gas industries, desalination plants and other industries are significant which has led to the development of various strategies to prevent biofilm formation and cleaning of infected surfaces. In this review, the benefits for bacterial cells to live in biofilms and the consequences to human activities are discussed.
Marine Biofilms: A Successful Microbial Strategy With Economic Implications
Published 2018 in Frontiers in Marine Science
ABSTRACT
PUBLICATION RECORD
- Publication year
2018
- Venue
Frontiers in Marine Science
- Publication date
2018-04-11
- Fields of study
Business, Economics, Environmental Science
- Identifiers
- External record
- Source metadata
Semantic Scholar
CITATION MAP
EXTRACTION MAP
CLAIMS
CONCEPTS
- biofilms
Surface-attached microbial communities in which cells live together within a shared matrix.
Aliases: adhered cells, microbial communities
- environmental stressors
Physical, chemical, and biological pressures mentioned as challenges to microbial survival, including temperature, pH, UV, salinity, nutrient, antimicrobial, and predation stresses.
Aliases: environmental stress, stress
- extracellular polymeric substances
The secreted polymer-rich matrix that surrounds and embeds biofilm cells.
Aliases: EPS, matrix of extracellular polymeric substances
- man-made surfaces in contact with seawater
Artificial surfaces exposed to seawater that can be colonized by biofilms.
Aliases: man-made surfaces, seawater-exposed surfaces
- marine biofilms
Biofilms occurring in seawater-associated environments and on seawater-exposed surfaces.
Aliases: biofilms in marine environments
- maritime industries
Human industries named as being affected by marine biofilms, including transport, aquaculture, oil and gas, and desalination.
Aliases: maritime transport, aquaculture, oil and gas industries, desalination plants