Imaging of biofilms at solid-air interfaces

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The emergence of antimicrobial resistance, as well as multidrug-resistant bacterial strains and related nosocomial infections are of major concern in both Industry and Health Care. There is a growing body of research results suggesting that environmental surfaces act as a source for infection and / or product contamination. A distinct feature common to these environmental surfaces is that they are primarily solid-air interfaces. In contrast, biofilm (surface-associated microorganisms) research, and methods used to evaluate the efficacy of products and programs aimed at mitigating biofilms are done almost exclusively at solid-liquid interfaces. Furthermore, microbial cells do not accumulate at solid-air interfaces to the same extent as at solid-liquid interfaces, and have slower growth rates and lower metabolic activity; they are thus expected to show increased resistance against environmental stressors such as antimicrobials. These factors necessitate new approaches to delineate microbial presence, distribution and activity in this microenvironment that appears to be a critical to our success for infection and spoilage control.