Biofilm in the news
My power word in the news this week is biofilm. The article I found is titled “Biofilm and Pathogen Mitigation: A Real Culture Change” by Siobhan S. Reilly, Ph.D. In the food processing industry pathogens creating biofilms are a big concern as disease agents coming from the food. Reilly has found that probiotic organisms are inhibitory pathogens in food processing, which act as a successful intervention-and-prevention technology. Food safety has become a high priority in the last twenty years and there is a long list of areas that are focused on when attempting to keep food processing safe, this includes: contamination control, facilities, food types, process control, regulatory, sanitation, supply chain, and testing. Even while focusing on all of these aspects of production pathogens are still able to live and cause illness. The main cause of the pathogen persistence is biofilm, which is a “bacterial matrix made up of carbohydrates, proteins, nucleic acids and other components that facilitate gene regulation for communication, defense and growth of said pathogen.” Reilly’s proposed solution is probiotics, which are live microorganisms that are administered and reduce prevalence of the biofilm by using several mechanisms. These mechanisms include: blanketing where the probiotic produces its own biofilm to prevent the pathogen from being able to bind, biosurfactant production where the probiotic secretes a detergent that can break down the biofilm that already exists, and exopolysaccharide production where a matrix is released from the cell that makes it difficult for the pathogen to remain in the processing environment. Certain strains of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium are able to use these mechanisms. They can be distributed in a dry powder in an aerosol container or by hand. Experiments to test the validity of these probiotics have been done and are detailed in the article, but there was clear evidence that the dry probiotic blends were successful in eliminating pathogens on common food processing surfaces.
This article was well written and easy to understand while still being scientific and formal. Terms that are not commonly seen and understood were defined, which helped in the understanding. There was a good amount of background, proposal and explanation of a solution and evidence that supported the solution. The article also seemed rather credible, it referenced several sources that were reliable. It is not peer reviewed, however, it serves the purpose of effectively explaining the importance of probiotics in the elimination of harmful pathogenic biofilms.