Microbial biofilm: current challenges in health care industry

Biofilmformation has become a significant problem in health industry and much research has been done for deeper understanding of the processes involved. Biofilms may form on living or non-living surfaces and can be prevalent in natural, industrial and hospital settings.The biofilm growth cycle includes bacterial adhesion at all levels, starting with the initial physical attraction of bacteria to a substrate, and ending with the eventual liberation of cell clusters from the biofilm matrix. Cells may also communicate via quorum sensing, which may in turn affect biofilm processes such as detachment. Terribly,the physiological nature of biofilm forming microbial cell is different than planktonic cell of the same organism, which, by contrast, are single-cell that may swim or float in a liquid medium.Biofilms have great importance for public health because of their role in certain infectious diseases and importance in a variety of medical device-related infections. Therefore, there is a need to develop novel, effective and specific antimicrobial substances, which can be utilized to diminish the biofilm associated pathogenicity in hospital and other public spaces. This article provides an overview of understanding of the biofilm formation and the role of genetic and environmental factors in the development of biofilm.