The Bacterial Biofilm Research Laboratory, The Institute for Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel.
FEMS Microbiol Rev. 2012 Sep;36(5):990-1004. doi: 10.1111/j.1574-6976.2012.00325.x. Epub 2012 Feb 2.
Our knowledge regarding the nature and development of microbial biofilms has grown significantly since the first report of these communities by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek in the late 1600s. Nevertheless, most biofilm studies examine mono-species cultures, whereas nearly all biofilm communities in nature comprise a variety of microorganisms. The species that constitute a mixed biofilm and the interactions between these microorganisms critically influence the development and shape of the community. In this review, we focus on interactions occurring within a multi-species biofilm and their effects on the nature of the mixed community. In general, interspecies interactions involve communication, typically via quorum sensing, and metabolic cooperation or competition. Interactions among species within a biofilm can be antagonistic, such as competition over nutrients and growth inhibition, or synergistic. The latter can result in the development of several beneficial phenotypes. These include the promotion of biofilm formation by co-aggregation, metabolic cooperation where one species utilizes a metabolite produced by a neighboring species, and increased resistance to antibiotics or host immune responses compared to the mono-species biofilms. These beneficial interactions in mixed biofilms have important environmental, industrial, and clinical implications. The latter, for example, impacts the course and treatment of biofilm-related infections, such as those manifested in the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients.
自 17 世纪晚期安东尼·范·列文虎克首次报告这些群落以来，我们对微生物生物膜的性质和发展的了解有了显著的增长。尽管如此，大多数生物膜研究都检查单种培养物，而自然界中几乎所有的生物膜群落都包含多种微生物。构成混合生物膜的物种以及这些微生物之间的相互作用，对群落的发展和形态有至关重要的影响。在这篇综述中，我们专注于多物种生物膜内发生的相互作用及其对混合群落性质的影响。一般来说，种间相互作用涉及到交流，通常是通过群体感应，以及代谢合作或竞争。生物膜内物种之间的相互作用可以是拮抗的，例如争夺营养物质和生长抑制，或者是协同的。后者可以导致几种有益表型的发展。这些包括通过共聚集促进生物膜形成、一种物种利用相邻物种产生的代谢物进行代谢合作，以及与单种生物膜相比，增加对抗生素或宿主免疫反应的抗性。混合生物膜中的这些有益相互作用具有重要的环境、工业和临床意义。后者，例如，会影响与生物膜相关的感染的过程和治疗，例如在囊性纤维化患者肺部表现出的感染。
