Ways to control harmful biofilms: prevention, inhibition, and eradication

Abstract

Biofilms are complex microbial architectures that encase microbial cells in a matrix comprising self-produced extracellular polymeric substances. Microorganisms living in biofilms are much more resistant to hostile environments than their planktonic counterparts and exhibit enhanced resistance against the microbicides. From the human perspective, biofilms can be classified into beneficial, neutral, and harmful. Harmful biofilms impact food safety, cause plant and animal diseases, and threaten medical fields, making it urgent to develop effective and robust strategies to control harmful biofilms. In this review, we discuss various strategies to control biofilm formation on infected tissues, implants, and medical devices. We classify the current strategies into three main categories: (i) changing the properties of susceptible surfaces to prevent biofilm formation; (ii) regulating signalling pathways to inhibit biofilm formation; (iii) applying external forces to eradicate the biofilm. We hope this review would motivate the development of innovative and effective strategies for controlling harmful biofilms.

Keywords:

• Harmful biofilm
• infected tissue
• tissue implant
• medical device
• biofilm control

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the National Key Research and Development Program of China [grant 2018YFD0500204], the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grants 31770087, 31970074, and 32000055]. MYG was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the U.S. National Library of Medicine at the NIH.