Microbial Biofilms and Antibiofilm Agents 2.0

It is estimated that <0.1% of the total microbial biomass on the Earth is present as individual, free floating (i.e., planktonic) cells. Nevertheless, it is only in 1993 that the American Society for Microbiology recognized the relevance of biofilms (i.e., aggregates of microbial cells attached to a substrate and embedded in a self-produced extracellular matrix) in the medical field [1]. Since then, thousands of studies have been conducted in order to understand how microbial biofilms develop and regulate as well as how we can limit their growth or eradicate them. Despite this intensive work, the therapy of biofilm-associated infections is still problematic to date and relies on the use of anti-adhesive or antibacterial coatings, on early aggressive antibiotic-treatments to prevent biofilm formation, or on the administration of high doses of systemic antibiotic combinations to eradicate pre-formed biofilms (Figure 1). If all these measures fail, the only option is the surgical removal of the infected tissue or of the implant with suffering for the patients and high healthcare costs. The great knowledge on biofilms that is being accumulated represents, however, a solid background to look to the future with optimism regarding our ability to implement innovative antibiofilm strategies to control harmful biofilms (Figure 1). In this context, the aim of this Special Issue was to gather a collection of papers focused on biofilm infections, and on the development of new antibiofilm agents to target them. A total of eight research articles and two reviews were collected disclosing new and interesting aspects on the physiology of bacterial biofilms [2], biofilm interaction with host cells [3], and innovative and promising approaches to prevent or eradicate microbial biofilms, not only in the medical setting [4,5,6,7,8,9,10] but also in the environment [11].