Wiktionary
n. (context biology medicine English) A thin film of mucus created by and containing a colony of bacteria and other microorganisms.
Wikipedia
A biofilm is any group of microorganisms in which cells stick to each other and often these cells adhere to a surface. These adherent cells are frequently embedded within a self-produced matrix of extracellular polymeric substance (EPS). Biofilm extracellular polymeric substance, which is also referred to as slime (although not everything described as slime is a biofilm), is a polymeric conglomeration generally composed of extracellular DNA, proteins, and polysaccharides. Biofilms may form on living or non-living surfaces and can be prevalent in natural, industrial and hospital settings. The microbial cells growing in a biofilm are physiologically distinct from planktonic cells of the same organism, which, by contrast, are single-cells that may float or swim in a liquid medium.
Microbes form a biofilm in response to many factors, which may include cellular recognition of specific or non-specific attachment sites on a surface, nutritional cues, or in some cases, by exposure of planktonic cells to sub-inhibitory concentrations of antibiotics. When a cell switches to the biofilm mode of growth, it undergoes a phenotypic shift in behavior in which large suites of genes are differentially regulated.
Usage examples of "biofilm".
There was something tremendously exciting about the opening of the Biofilm Institute.
There have been suggestions that ancient linen tends to support the continued growth of bacteria that leave behind a transparent, varnish-like biofilm that would distort the results.
He talked microbes and biofilms and bacterial communities even when they reached the protruding tongue of slick, black stones leading into the first cave, even during all the business of docking and handing her over the side and mentioning that she just might want to watch out for the algae that made the cave entrance so slippery and oops, I forgot to mention that little bump just inside.
A short period of wet and warm brought the mats out of the vents and into the lake beds, where they interacted with the peroxide forms, perhaps incorporating them into the biofilm.
They synthesized and released, probably from that same slot in the cart as the biofilm, a molecule that would please us.
The being under his hand felt slick, coated with some version of the biofilm on floor and walls.
Terran biofilms produce a coat of slime that protects them from some antibiotics.
The projections that might have been vines or tentacles or semisolid biofilms, slimy and purple-red, sprouted off the scaly-looking trunk.
We've got researchers going up and down the coast looking for other cave sites, but for all we know, these four caves may be the only places on the planet where these particular biofilms are found.
But biofilms, like the 'mats, aren't just one species but a collection of microbial species working together.
Biofilms can also exist in your intestines, your urinary tract, and on your teeth, where they sometimes cause problems, and specialized ecologies of bacteria protect your skin, your mouth, and other areas of your body.