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Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews, June 2009, p. 310-347, Vol. 73, No. 2
1092-2172/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/MMBR.00041-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Signals, Regulatory Networks, and Materials That Build and Break Bacterial Biofilms

Ece Karatan1* and Paula Watnick2

Department of Biology, Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina 28608,1 Division of Infectious Diseases, Children's Hospital, Boston, and Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 021152

Summary: Biofilms are communities of microorganisms that live attached to surfaces. Biofilm formation has received much attention in the last decade, as it has become clear that virtually all types of bacteria can form biofilms and that this may be the preferred mode of bacterial existence in nature. Our current understanding of biofilm formation is based on numerous studies of myriad bacterial species. Here, we review a portion of this large body of work including the environmental signals and signaling pathways that regulate biofilm formation, the components of the biofilm matrix, and the mechanisms and regulation of biofilm dispersal.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biology, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC 28608. Phone: (828) 262-6742. Fax: (828) 262-2127. E-mail: karatane{at}appstate.edu

Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews, June 2009, p. 310-347, Vol. 73, No. 2
1092-2172/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/MMBR.00041-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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