Microbial Biofilms and Biotechnology – Some Perceptions

Abstract

The review is an attempt to introduce the readers in brief about biofilms and their implications as well as some new perceptions in biotechnology. Biofilms are adherent microbial communities, which are developed on submerged surfaces in aquatic environments. Biofilms play a significant role in exopolymer production, material deterioration and also cause harmful infections. Further, the role of corrosion causing biofilm bacteria in deterioration of different materials, microbial biofilms and their enzymatic processes in reducing the toxicity of pollutants in industrial effluents are elaborated, along with clean technologies for wastewater treatment. Biotechnology is defined as any technological application that uses biological systems to synthesize or modify products or processes. The applications include biochemical processes, medical care, cell and tissue culture, as well as synthetic biology and others. Synthetic biology details about the design, construction of new biological components and systems for useful purposes. Finally, to overcome the limitations that are inherent to the use of cellular host’s, cell-free systems as critical platforms for synthetic biology applications. This mini-review also mentions new diagnostic products based on enzymes, monoclonal antibodies and engineered proteins, as well as novel prophylactic vaccines.