Interactions in multispecies biofilms: do they actually matter?

TY - JOUR

T1 - Interactions in multispecies biofilms

T2 - do they actually matter?

AU - Burmølle, Mette

AU - Ren, Dawei

AU - Bjarnsholt, Thomas

AU - Sørensen, Søren Johannes

N1 - Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

PY - 2014/2

Y1 - 2014/2

N2 - The recent focus on complex bacterial communities has led to the recognition of interactions across species boundaries. This is particularly pronounced in multispecies biofilms, where synergistic interactions impact the bacterial distribution and overall biomass produced. Importantly, in a number of settings, the interactions in a multispecies biofilm affect its overall function, physiology, or surroundings, by resulting in enhanced resistance, virulence, or degradation of pollutants, which is of significant importance to human health and activities. The underlying mechanisms causing these synergistic effects are to some extent characterized at the molecular and evolutionary levels, and further exploration is now possible due to the enhanced resolution and higher throughput of available techniques.

AB - The recent focus on complex bacterial communities has led to the recognition of interactions across species boundaries. This is particularly pronounced in multispecies biofilms, where synergistic interactions impact the bacterial distribution and overall biomass produced. Importantly, in a number of settings, the interactions in a multispecies biofilm affect its overall function, physiology, or surroundings, by resulting in enhanced resistance, virulence, or degradation of pollutants, which is of significant importance to human health and activities. The underlying mechanisms causing these synergistic effects are to some extent characterized at the molecular and evolutionary levels, and further exploration is now possible due to the enhanced resolution and higher throughput of available techniques.

U2 - 10.1016/j.tim.2013.12.004

DO - 10.1016/j.tim.2013.12.004

M3 - Review

C2 - 24440178

SN - 0966-842X

VL - 22

SP - 84

EP - 91

JO - Trends in Microbiology

JF - Trends in Microbiology

IS - 2

ER -