Bacterial biofilm cellulose found to differ from plant cellulose

A team of researchers with members from the U.S., Germany and Sweden has discovered that the cellulose found in bacterial biofilms differs from the cellulose in plants. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes how they found the difference and what their findings might mean for developing new ways to combat bacterial infections. Michael Galperin with NIH in the U.S. and Daria Shalaeva with Moscow State University offer a Perspective piece on the work done by the team in the same journal issue. One of the reasons that bacterial infections can be difficult to treat is their tendency to form biofilms resistant to penetration, making it difficult for antibiotic agents to reach and kill them. Such biofilms, Galperin and Shalaeva note, can cause a bacterial infection to shift from an acute infection to a chronic infection. Over the years, scientists have studied bacterial biofilms hoping to find a weakness that might be exploited to make them less protective of the bacteria hiding within them. Unfortunately, up until now, little progress has been made in this area. In this new effort, however, it appears the researchers have found something in the makeup of the biofilms that might make it possible to weaken them.