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Bacterial Biofilm: Its Composition, Formation and Role in Human Infections

Muhsin Jamal, Ufaq Tasneem, Tahir Hussain and Saadia Andleeb

Biofilm is an association of micro-organisms in which microbial cells adhere to each other on a living or non-living surfaces within a self-produced matrix of extracellular polymeric substance. Bacterial biofilm is infectious in nature and can results in nosocomial infections. According to National Institutes of Health (NIH) about about 65% of all microbial infections, and 80% of all chronic infections are associated with biofilms. Biofilm formation is a multi-step process starting with attachment to a surface then formation of micro-colony that leads to the formation of three dimensional structure and finally ending with maturation followed by detachment. During biofilm formation many species of bacteria are able to communicate with one another through specific mechanism called quorum sensing. It is a system of stimulus to co-ordinate different gene expression. Bacterial biofilm is less accessible to antibiotics and human immune system and thus poses a big threat to public health because of its involvement in variety of infectious diseases. A greater understanding of bacterial biofilm is required for the development of novel, effective control strategies thus resulting improvement in patient management.