title: Mycobacterial biofilms: a greasy way to hold it together.
abstract: Microorganisms growing on surfaces can form biofilms under certain conditions. In this issue of Cell, Ojha et al. (2005) investigate biofilm formation in mycobacteria. They identify new cell-wall components that are required for the formation of architecturally complex mature biofilms in these bacteria and the surprising involvement of a chaperone protein in this process.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: María Mercedes
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Zambrano
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kolter
mesh_terms: D018441:Biofilms; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000737:chemistry*; D018834:Chaperonin 60 / Q000378:metabolism; D018832:Molecular Chaperones / Q000378:metabolism; D020102:Mycobacterium smegmatis / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D009171:Mycolic Acids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018834:Chaperonin 60; D018832:Molecular Chaperones; D009171:Mycolic Acids