Multispecies Biofilms and Microbial Interactions

Dear Colleagues,

In most environments, microbial community composition is shaped by interdependent metabolic interactions determining interspecies competition or cooperation relationships between organisms. Natural ecosystems are made of a mosaic of microhabitats. Within these microhabitats, bacterial (sub)populations do not obligatorily interact on an intimate level with each other due to an important biofilm heterogeneity. Other organisms, including protists and fungi can be part of these biofilms, thereby altering their structure and properties.

Today, limited information is available on multispecies/multiorganism biofilms and their microhabitats related to their natural environment. There is a missing bridge between mono- and bi-species in vitro and large scale in situ studies. Biofilm behavior can profoundly differ when in multispecies and multiorganism versus in monospecies conditions. Moreover, understanding competition and cooperation interactions can result in the identification of molecules of interest. Studies on multiorganism biofilms can also lead to the identification of uncommon (or novel) interactions, which may explain how they survive in the environment. Overall, studying multispecies biofilms can give information on microhabitats, spatial organization, and microorganism interactions.

The aim of this Special Issue, dedicated to “Multispecies Biofilms and Microbial Interactions”, is to collect research articles and reviews on the mechanisms underlying the formation of multispecies and multiorganism biofilms, their persistence and resistance under modified environmental conditions, the development of appropriate laboratory methods to study these biofilms, and the identification of molecules of interest in relation to microbial interactions and of innovative antibiofilm strategies.

Prof. Maëlle Molmeret
Dr. Claudine BARAQUET
Dr. Raphaël LAMI
Dr. Laurent URIOS
Guest Editors

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