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Review
. 2000 May;182(10):2675-9.
doi: 10.1128/JB.182.10.2675-2679.2000.

Biofilm, city of microbes

P Watnick  1 , R Kolter
Affiliations
Review

Biofilm, city of microbes

P Watnick et al. J Bacteriol. 2000 May.
No abstract available

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Figures

FIG. 1
FIG. 1
A schematic representation of the steps a new bacterial species takes in forming a biofilm on a rock previously colonized with multiple species of bacteria. The yellow bacteria represent an aquatic species that swims towards the rock using polar flagella, forms random loose attachments to the rock, migrates over the surface to form a microcolony, and finally produces exopolysaccharide to form a three-dimensional biofilm. When environmental conditions become unfavorable, some of the bacteria may detach and swim away to find a surface in a more favorable environment.
FIG. 2
FIG. 2
A microscopic study of the steps in biofilm formation by V. cholerae. The planktonic bacterium was visualized by transmission electron microscopy (bar = 1 μM), the attached cells and microcolony were visualized by scanning electron microscopy (bar = 2 μM), and the biofilm micrograph represents a vertical section through a 20-μm biofilm taken by confocal scanning laser microscopy (bar = 10 μM).
FIG. 3
FIG. 3
The first frame in a movie taken of the activity in a mature V. cholerae biofilm. The dark collections of bacteria represent pillars in the biofilm, while a monolayer of cells is seen between the pillars. The corresponding movie, which demonstrates the activity associated with a mature biofilm, is accessible at http://gasp.med.harvard.edu/biofilms/jbmini/movie.html both in gray scale and in color to accentuate moving bacteria.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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MeSH terms

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