Price and Skaar 2025 — Forging biofilms: metal-induced microbial responses in biofilm formation
This Journal of Bacteriology minireview by Sarah Price and Eric Skaar (Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Center for Infection and Immunity) covers the mechanistic role of metal availability in bacterial biofilm formation and dynamics. Biofilms are major contributors to antibiotic resistance and to persistence in hospital environments; the authors show that metals are involved at multiple stages of biofilm biology including initial regulation of biofilm formation, communication and competition among bacteria within polymicrobial biofilms, and structural integrity and adherence of bacterial cells in the biofilm matrix. The review documents both biofilm-promoting and biofilm-disrupting metal effects and the use of metal sequestration by some bacteria to deprive neighboring microbes within the biofilm community.
Key conclusions
Metals act as biofilm regulators at three levels: induction (specific metals signal the planktonic-to-biofilm transition for several pathogens), structure (metal-bound matrix components contribute to biofilm mechanical integrity and adherence), and competition (metal sequestration by some biofilm members deprives others of essential nutrients, shaping the community). Metal-induced biofilm formation is a candidate target for anti-biofilm intervention strategies; understanding metal-driven biofilm dynamics has implications for chronic infection management and for medical-device-associated infection control.
Implications
- Certification: Background context for why metal exposure perturbs polymicrobial communities including the gut microbiome. Biofilms are not strictly the focus of food-safety certification, but the metal-driven community-competition mechanism is one mechanism by which dietary heavy metals modulate microbiota.
- Microbiome: Crosswalks to WikiBiome for biofilm-and-metals topics. Companion to Chandrangsu 2017 for the bacterial-metal-physiology layer.
- Courses: Useful for teaching biofilm-and-pathogenesis topics at the metallobiology intersection.