Who put the film in biofilm? The migration of a term from wastewater engineering to medicine and beyond
Abstract Sessile microorganisms were described as early as the seventeenth century. However, the term biofilm arose only in the 1960s in wastewater treatment research and was adopted later in marine fouling and in medical and dental microbiology. The sessile mode of microbial life was gradually reco...
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doaj-9a0d5e96293346d0bf225da2a3943c2b2021-01-31T16:37:55ZengNature Publishing Groupnpj Biofilms and Microbiomes2055-50082021-01-01711510.1038/s41522-020-00183-3Who put the film in biofilm? The migration of a term from wastewater engineering to medicine and beyondHans-Curt Flemming0Philippe Baveye1Thomas R. Neu2Paul Stoodley3Ulrich Szewzyk4Jost Wingender5Stefan Wuertz6Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE), Nanyang Technological University SingaporeSaint Loup Research InstituteDepartment of River Ecology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research–UFZDepartment of Microbial Infection and Immunity and the Department of Orthopaedics, The Ohio State UniversityTechnical University of Berlin, Department of Environmental MicrobiologyUniversity of Duisburg-Essen, Biofilm CentreSingapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE), Nanyang Technological University SingaporeAbstract Sessile microorganisms were described as early as the seventeenth century. However, the term biofilm arose only in the 1960s in wastewater treatment research and was adopted later in marine fouling and in medical and dental microbiology. The sessile mode of microbial life was gradually recognized to be predominant on Earth, and the term biofilm became established for the growth of microorganisms in aggregates, frequently associated with interfaces, although many, if not the majority, of them not being continuous “films” in the strict sense. In this sessile form of life, microorganisms live in close proximity in a matrix of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). They share emerging properties, clearly distinct from solitary free floating planktonic microbial cells. Common characteristics include the formation of synergistic microconsortia, using the EPS matrix as an external digestion system, the formation of gradients and high biodiversity over microscopically small distances, resource capture and retention, facilitated gene exchange as well as intercellular communication, and enhanced tolerance to antimicrobials. Thus, biofilms belong to the class of collective systems in biology, like forests, beehives, or coral reefs, although the term film addresses only one form of the various manifestations of microbial aggregates. The uncertainty of this term is discussed, and it is acknowledged that it will not likely be replaced soon, but it is recommended to understand these communities in the broader sense of microbial aggregates.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41522-020-00183-3 |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Hans-Curt Flemming Philippe Baveye Thomas R. Neu Paul Stoodley Ulrich Szewzyk Jost Wingender Stefan Wuertz |
spellingShingle |
Hans-Curt Flemming Philippe Baveye Thomas R. Neu Paul Stoodley Ulrich Szewzyk Jost Wingender Stefan Wuertz Who put the film in biofilm? The migration of a term from wastewater engineering to medicine and beyond npj Biofilms and Microbiomes |
author_facet |
Hans-Curt Flemming Philippe Baveye Thomas R. Neu Paul Stoodley Ulrich Szewzyk Jost Wingender Stefan Wuertz |
author_sort |
Hans-Curt Flemming |
title |
Who put the film in biofilm? The migration of a term from wastewater engineering to medicine and beyond |
title_short |
Who put the film in biofilm? The migration of a term from wastewater engineering to medicine and beyond |
title_full |
Who put the film in biofilm? The migration of a term from wastewater engineering to medicine and beyond |
title_fullStr |
Who put the film in biofilm? The migration of a term from wastewater engineering to medicine and beyond |
title_full_unstemmed |
Who put the film in biofilm? The migration of a term from wastewater engineering to medicine and beyond |
title_sort |
who put the film in biofilm? the migration of a term from wastewater engineering to medicine and beyond |
publisher |
Nature Publishing Group |
series |
npj Biofilms and Microbiomes |
issn |
2055-5008 |
publishDate |
2021-01-01 |
description |
Abstract Sessile microorganisms were described as early as the seventeenth century. However, the term biofilm arose only in the 1960s in wastewater treatment research and was adopted later in marine fouling and in medical and dental microbiology. The sessile mode of microbial life was gradually recognized to be predominant on Earth, and the term biofilm became established for the growth of microorganisms in aggregates, frequently associated with interfaces, although many, if not the majority, of them not being continuous “films” in the strict sense. In this sessile form of life, microorganisms live in close proximity in a matrix of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). They share emerging properties, clearly distinct from solitary free floating planktonic microbial cells. Common characteristics include the formation of synergistic microconsortia, using the EPS matrix as an external digestion system, the formation of gradients and high biodiversity over microscopically small distances, resource capture and retention, facilitated gene exchange as well as intercellular communication, and enhanced tolerance to antimicrobials. Thus, biofilms belong to the class of collective systems in biology, like forests, beehives, or coral reefs, although the term film addresses only one form of the various manifestations of microbial aggregates. The uncertainty of this term is discussed, and it is acknowledged that it will not likely be replaced soon, but it is recommended to understand these communities in the broader sense of microbial aggregates. |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41522-020-00183-3 |
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