Detection and Characterization of Bacterial Biofilms and Biofilm-Based Sensors

Abstract

Microbial biofilms have caused serious concerns in healthcare, medical, and food industries because of their intrinsic resistance against conventional antibiotics and cleaning procedures and their capability to firmly adhere on surfaces for persistent contamination. These global issues strongly motivate researchers to develop novel methodologies to investigate the kinetics underlying biofilm formation, to understand the response of the biofilm with different chemical and physical treatments, and to identify biofilmspecific drugs with high-throughput screenings. Meanwhile microbial biofilms can also be utilized positively as sensing elements in cellbased sensors due to their strong adhesion on surfaces. In this perspective, we provide an overview on the connections between sensing and microbial biofilms, focusing on tools used to investigate biofilm properties, kinetics, and their response to chemicals or physical agents, and biofilm-based sensors, a type of biosensor using the bacterial biofilm as a biorecognition element to capture the presence of the target of interest by measuring the metabolic activity of the immobilized microbial cells. Finally we discuss possible new research directions for the development of robust and rapid biofilm related sensors with high temporal and spatial resolutions, pertinent to a wide range of applications.

Design of Nanohydroxyapatite/Pectin Composite from Opuntia Ficus-Indica Cladodes for the Management of Microbial Infections

“…Microbial biofilms have raised severe issues in the healthcare, medical, and food industries due to their inherent resistance to standard drugs and cleaning procedures, as well as their capacity to firmly adhere to surfaces for persistent contamination [ 33 , 34 ]. In this regard, additional experiments are highly urged to examine the antibacterial activity of composites against bacterial growth inhibition and to demonstrate antibacterial capabilities against biofilms.…”

A 3D‐Printed Customizable Platform for Multiplex Dynamic Biofilm Studies

“…Such biofilms can sometimes be beneficial for the environment and some industries. In fact, biofilms have been utilized for microbial bioprocessing, [36,37] microbial fuel cells, [38,39] bioremediation, [40,41] biosensor design, [42,43] and biohydrogen production. [44,45] However, a tendency of bacterial accumulation on surfaces is in charge of a diverse spectrum of local/systemic diseases and industrial biofouling.…”

Non-invasive biomedical sensors for early detection and monitoring of bacterial biofilm growth at the point of care

“…Bacterial biofilms are complex communities of microorganisms that stick to a surface and are embedded within a sticky extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs) matrix, [1][2][3][4][5] which contains polysaccharides, proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids, and serves multiple functions, such as agglomerate microorganisms, protective barrier, and nutrient source. 1,2,4,5 The biofilm is a living structure, and its formation is a complex process involving three critical stages.…”

“…[4][5][6] Specific cell membrane proteins, adhesins, or bacterial appendages such as pili or flagella are needed to establish the interaction between bacterial cells and the surface. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9] The attraction is greater than repulsion in the late first stage, so the reversible adhesion becomes irreversible. 4,5 In the second stage, the bacterial colonies grow and mature.…”