Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Karl-von-Frisch-Strasse 16, D-35043 Marburg, Germany.
Department of Zoology, South Parks Road, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK.
Nat Rev Microbiol. 2016 Sep;14(9):589-600. doi: 10.1038/nrmicro.2016.84. Epub 2016 Jul 25.
Bacteria often live within matrix-embedded communities, termed biofilms, which are now understood to be a major mode of microbial life. The study of biofilms has revealed their vast complexity both in terms of resident species composition and phenotypic diversity. Despite this complexity, theoretical and experimental work in the past decade has identified common principles for understanding microbial biofilms. In this Review, we discuss how the spatial arrangement of genotypes within a community influences the cooperative and competitive cell-cell interactions that define biofilm form and function. Furthermore, we argue that a perspective rooted in ecology and evolution is fundamental to progress in microbiology.
细菌通常生活在基质嵌入的群落中，称为生物膜，现在被认为是微生物生命的主要方式。对生物膜的研究揭示了其在居住物种组成和表型多样性方面的巨大复杂性。尽管如此，过去十年的理论和实验工作已经确定了理解微生物生物膜的共同原则。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了群落中基因型的空间排列如何影响定义生物膜形态和功能的合作和竞争细胞-细胞相互作用。此外，我们认为，扎根于生态学和进化的观点对于微生物学的进展是至关重要的。
