Web Extras

Some more background on biofilms

Image credit: MSU Center for Biofilm Engineering, P. Dirckx

An illustration of mature biofilms

Scientists have been studying bacteria since the 17th century, but it's only in the past few decades that researchers have trained their microscopes on the large (and mysterious) communities of bacteria known as biofilms. DMS microbiologist George O'Toole, Ph.D., has made a number of important contributions to understanding these aggregations, including identifying genes that help biofilms resist treatment with antibiotics. The article "Science vs. Slime," from the Fall 2010 issue of Dartmouth Medicine, discussed O'Toole's research and the difficulties scientists have had trying to figure the ways of biofilms. Below are links to resources on biofilms and to some of the research papers mentioned in the article.

Learn more

• George O'Toole's lab, with more information on his research projects
• The Center for Biofilm Engineering at Montana State University
• Selected research articles by O'Toole:
  • "Tobramycin and FDA-approved iron chelators eliminate Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms on cystic fibrosis cells"
    A study that found that the use of iron chelators to supplement treatment with an antibiotic led to better success against biofilms.
    
    
  • "The developmental model of microbial biofilms: ten years of a paradigm up for review
    A discussion of whether the developmental model of biofilm development has stood up over time.
    
    
  • "Innate and induced resistance mechanisms of bacterial biofilms"
    A review of the ways that biofilms are able to avoid efforts to eradicate them with antibiotics and other treatments.
    
    
  • "Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm formation in the cystic fibrosis airway"
    A review of the role of the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa in cystic fibrosis
    
    
  • "A genetic basis for Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm antibiotic resistance"
    An important finding that identified a gene that contributes to the ability of biofilms to overcome treatment with antibiotics.
    
    
  • "Biofilm formation as microbial development"
    A paper laying out the idea that the formation of biofilms is similar to the development of multicellular organisms.
    
    
  • "Flagellar and twitching motility are necessary for Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm development"
    A paper detailing a finding that some mutant strains of a bacterium were unable to form biofilms because of genetic defects in genes involved in the attachment process.