Community-wide changes reflecting bacterial interspecific interactions in multispecies biofilms

Research output: Contribution to journalReviewResearchpeer-review

  • Faizan Ahmed Sadiq
  • Burmølle, Mette
  • Marc Heyndrickx
  • Steve Flint
  • Wenwei Lu
  • Wei Chen
  • Jianxin Zhao
  • Hao Zhang

Existence of most bacterial species, in natural, industrial, and clinical settings in the form of surface-adhered communities or biofilms has been well acknowledged for decades. Research predominantly focusses on single-species biofilms as these are relatively easy to study. However, microbiologists are now interested in studying multispecies biofilms and revealing interspecific interactions in these communities because of the existence of a plethora of different bacterial species together in almost all natural settings. Multispecies biofilms-led emergent properties are triggered by bacterial social interactions which have huge implication for research and practical knowledge useful for the control and manipulation of these microbial communities. Here, we discuss some important bacterial interactions that take place in multispecies biofilm communities and provide insights into community-wide changes that indicate bacterial interactions and elucidate underlying mechanisms.

Original languageEnglish
JournalCritical Reviews in Microbiology
Volume47
Issue number3
Pages (from-to)338-358
Number of pages21
ISSN1040-841X
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

    Research areas

  • Mixed-species biofilms, bacterial interactions, biofilms, microbial synergy, antimicrobial tolerance

ID: 258825386