A substantially updated version of the hypertextbook is available here. Please migrate to that version. This one will eventually disappear.
The table of contents presented below is intended to reflect the current view of the content of the hypertextbook. Not all chapters contain content at this point, although most either near completion or in progress.
Also be aware that chapters may be moved around, new content added, old content revised, and other enhancements made to the hypertextbook as it evolves. One of the really cool features of a hypertextbook is that it can evolve dynamically. Indeed, content that is useful even in draft form can be included and used immediately. We will utilize this dynamic aspect of the hypertextbook to bring you updates in real time.
Please note that the chapters below are not linked to the content. To access a chapter, hover your mouse over the Chapters dropdown menu in the top bar of this page and click on the desired chapter.
This chapter provides an introduction to the concept and study of biofilms. What are biofilms? Where are they found? Are they harmful? Are they beneficial? Why are they important? These questions, and more, are found in this chapter. More content will be added to this chapter over time, but it is now ready for use. It appears on both the green (novice) and blue (intermediate) tracks. (Finished, with enhancements planned.
In this chapter we explore the biofilm phenomenon: historical recognition of the importance of biofilms to an understanding of microbiology; biofilms as natural phenomena; formation, growth, colonization, and defense mechanisms of biofilms. (More content is planned for this chapter, and there are still a few images and video clips to identify and include, but it is quite usable now as it stands. It appears only at the blue (intermediate) level at this time. Green and Black levels to come.)
This chapter explores the impact of biofilms on health. Some diseases and adverse medical conditions are now recognized to be the result of a biofilm infection. For example, when a medical implant becomes infected, it is usually a biofilm infection that is much more difficult to treat than other non-biofilm infections resulting from the same microbes not in a biofilm. Medical and dental practices can be enhanced through an understanding of biofilms and their treatment as a biofilm. (This chapter is ready to use. It will be expanded from its focus at this point on wounds to other medical and dental conditions).
Not all biofilms are bad. Biofilms are a natural phenomenon in our everyday environments and even thrive in extremely hot and cold environment. Biofilms can also be engineered for beneficial purposes. For example, since certain biofilms can subsist on petroleum oil (and hence clog oil pipelines) these same types of biofilms can be engineered to aid in the cleanup of an oil spill. This chapter presents a view of naturally occurring and engineered biofilms that are either benign or beneficial. (This chapter is underway, but does not yet appear in the hypertextbook.)
Many industries encounter pesky biofilms that can plague their manufacturing processes and/or foul their products. It is estimated that biofilms cause industry literally billions of dollars a year in lost production and treatment. As is true with biofilms in any environment, it is important to recognize when problems are the result of a biofilm, as their treatment will differ accordingly. This chapter discusses these issues. (In first draft form).
In this chapter the topic of diffusion in biofilms is explored. This topic is important to the understanding and treatment of harmful biofilms. For example, standard practice for many years has been to test the effect of anti-bacterial remedies on bacteria in isolation. Such treatments are often ineffective for treating bacteria as they exist in a biofilm, because a biofilm colony appears to have various defense mechanisms and structure that hinders the treatment agent from penetrating (diffusing into) the biofilm and from having the same effect on targeted microbes as it would on those same microbes in a planktonic environment. (This chapter is in usable form at the blue level. It will be enhanced and also reformulated for the green and black levels.)
Harmful biofilms must be recognized and treated. This chapter provides an overview of methodologies for controlling biofilms. This is, of course, the crux of the matter for industry and health fields. If biofilms are so hard to treat, what methods are available or being discovered for their control? (This chapter is underway. A first draft of the chapter should be included shortly).
In order to treat detrimental biofilms and harness the power of beneficial biofilms, engineers and scientists must continuously enhance their knowledge and understanding biofilms. This chapter explores various methods employed for studying biofilms in the laboratory and through microscopy. (This chapter is at this moment in the formative stage. No draft of it appears in the hypertextbook at this juncture.)
One way to study any physical phenomenon is to try to capture its properties as a mathematical system. The result is a computer-based computational model that can be used to study the behavior of that physical phenomenon. The state of modeling biofilms is presented in this chapter. (This chapter is in the formative stage and does not yet appear in the hypertextbook.)
This chapter on biofilm processes is likely to be subsumed by a different chapter. For now we place it here for reader access, because even in its first-draft form, it contains useful, interesting content.
Eighteen peer reviewed biofilm laboratory exercises are currently included in this appendix. They are formulated for an instructor who wants to assign biofilm laboratory exercises. (More laboratory exercises and experiments are in the review process, and yet more are in the formative stage. These will be incorporated into the hypertextbook as they become available.)
These exercises in appendix 2 correspond directly with the exercises in appendix 1but are formulated for the student rather than the instructor. (More laboratory exercises and experiments are in the review process, and yet more are in the formative stage. These will be incorporated into the hypertextbook as they become available.)
As citations are made to literature, the corresponding references are kept in this appendix. Links to this appendix accompany the citations.
It is intended that the instructor aids be included as an appendix in the hypertextbook