Electrochemical communication in biofilm of bacterial community

Abstract

Electrochemical communication during biofilm formation has recently been identified. Bacteria within biofilm‐adopt different strategies for electrochemical communication such as direct contact via membrane‐bound molecules, diffusive electron transfer via soluble redox‐active molecules, and ion channel‐mediated long‐range electrochemical signaling. Long‐range electrical signals are important to communicate with distant members within the biofilm, which function through spatially propagating waves of potassium ion (K+) that depolarizes neighboring cells. During propagation, these waves coordinate between the metabolic states of interior and peripheral cells of the biofilm. The understanding of electrochemical communication within the biofilm may provide new strategies to control biofilm‐mediated drug resistance. Here, we summarized the different mechanisms of electrochemical communication among bacterial populations and suggested its possible role in the development of high level of antibiotic resistance. Thus, electrochemical signaling opens a new avenue concerning the electrophysiology of bacterial biofilm and may help to control the biofilm‐mediated infection by developing future antimicrobials.

Planetary Scale Information Transmission in the Biosphere and Technosphere: Limits and Evolution

“…We specify [ 60 , 61 ] (this value is constructed by taking the estimate of cells from Flemming and Wuertz [ 60 ], and multiplying it with a biofilm fraction of ), along with ([ 62 ], Figure 1 D) (this choice is identical to the number of nearest neighbors manifested in the efficient method of hexagonal close packing in two dimensions), for prokaryotes occurring in biofilms, although the latter could be enhanced under optimal conditions [ 63 , 64 ]. Reliable constraints on do not seem to be available, especially for the substantial deep biosphere, which remains scarcely investigated.…”