How to build a biofilm

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

A house is made from basic components that include bricks, roof tiles and mortar. Each part is essential to allow the building to be constructed. In addition the component parts need to be assembled in the correct order, and with the correct spatial arrangement, for the house to be strong and secure. Following this analogy, biofilms are communities of microbes (where the cells can be considered the bricks and roof tiles) that are surrounded by an extracellular matrix (the mortar) that provides structure. When living in the biofilm the microbes benefit and become resistant to antibiotics and other antimicrobial agents. This can result in the formation of chronic antibiotic resistant infections. We are interested in how a biofilm is built. The main component parts that are needed have been identified and in this proposal we aim to understand how they are assembled. Understanding how they are assembled will allow the development of novel strategies to block assembly in the natural environment and therefore guide future development of novel antimicrobial compounds for chronic debilitating biofilm infections.