title: Biofilms in chronic infections - a matter of opportunity - monospecies biofilms in multispecies infections.
abstract: It has become evident that aggregation or biofilm formation is an important survival mechanism for bacteria in almost any environment. In this review, we summarize recent visualizations of bacterial aggregates in several chronic infections (chronic otitis media, cystic fibrosis, infection due to permanent tissue fillers and chronic wounds) both as to distribution (such as where in the wound bed) and organization (monospecies or multispecies microcolonies). We correlate these biofilm observations to observations of commensal biofilms (dental and intestine) and biofilms in natural ecosystems (soil). The observations of the chronic biofilm infections point toward a trend of low bacterial diversity and sovereign monospecies biofilm aggregates even though the infection in which they reside are multispecies. In contrast to this, commensal and natural biofilm aggregates contain multiple species that are believed to coexist, interact and form biofilms with high bacterial and niche diversity. We discuss these differences from both the diagnostic and the scientific point of view.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Mette
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Burmølle
authors.forename: Trine Rolighed
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Thomsen
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fazli
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Dige
authors.forename: Lise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.forename: Preben
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Homøe
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tvede
authors.forename: Bente
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nyvad
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tolker-Nielsen
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Givskov
authors.forename: Claus
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Moser
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kirketerp-Møller
authors.forename: Helle Krogh
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Johansen
authors.forename: Niels
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Høiby
authors.forename: Peter Østrup
authors.initials: PØ
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.forename: Søren J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Sørensen
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bjarnsholt
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D044822:Biodiversity; D018441:Biofilms / Q000254:growth & development*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D006801:Humans