Growing
inside pipes and on the surfaces of devices, bacterial biofilms cause major
headaches for the pharmaceutical sector. Within biofilms, bacteria are
protected from chemicals and antibiotics and can be almost impossible to
eliminate. But researchers have shown that enzymes produced by yeasts, called
biosurfactants, can dissolve stubborn biofilms and boost the efficacy of
current chemical treatments, lessening their toxicity and environmental
impacts.
But in a new
study, microbiologists have found a new way of tackling biofilms, using
cleaning agents derived from microbes themselves.
Certain
Candida yeasts can naturally produce biosurfactants called sophorolipids during
the fermentation of oils. Previous studies have shown that sophorolipids have
some degree of antimicrobial activity, but there is conflicting information on
the effects of these compounds on biofilms composed of the Gram-negative
pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Specifically,
sophorolipids appear to weaken the interaction between the biofilm and the
underlying surface and break the internal cohesiveness of the biofilm itself,
leading to disruption.
See:
Posted by Dr. Tim Sandle, Pharmaceutical Microbiology Resources (http://www.pharmamicroresources.com/)
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