Biofilm Highlights
Living in biofilms is the common way of life of microorganisms, transiently immobilized in their matrix of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), interacting in many ways and using the matrix as an external digestion and protection system. This is how
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Series Editor: J. William Costerton Pittsburgh, USA
For further volumes: http://www.springer.com/series/7142
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Hans-Curt Flemming Ulrich Szewzyk
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Jost Wingender
Editors
Biofilm Highlights
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Editors Prof. Dr. Hans-Curt Flemming Biofilm Centre University of Duisburg-Essen Faculty of Chemistry Universita¨tsstr. 5 45141 Essen Germany
Jost Wingender Biofilm Centre University of Duisburg-Essen Faculty of Chemistry Universita¨tsstr. 5 45141 Essen Germany
Ulrich Szewzyk Department of Environmental Microbiology Berlin Institute of Technology Franklinstrasse 29 10587 Berlin Germany Series Editor Dr. J. William Costerton Director of Microbiology Research Department of Orthopedic Surgery Allegheny General Hospital and Director of Biofilm Research Allegheny-Singer Research Institute 320 East North Ave. Pittsburgh PA, 15212 USA
ISBN 978-3-642-19939-4 e-ISBN 978-3-642-19940-0 DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-19940-0 Springer Heidelberg Dordrecht London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2011930791 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Violations are liable to prosecution under the German Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Cover design: deblik, Berlin Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Preface
Living in biofilms is the common way of life of microorganisms, transiently immobilized in their matrix of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), interacting in many ways and using the matrix as an external digestion and protection system. This made them the oldest, most successful and ubiquitous form of life. And this is how they have organized their life in the environment, in medical context, and in technical systems, which is acknowledged by a yearly increasing number of scientific publications, which grows exponentially. It is next to impossible to keep an overview in face of all this frequently very specialized, dispersed, and detailed information. But during this entire race for data, it is very important to sometimes take a breath and have a critical look on what is really achieved and what can be learnt from it. Biofilms are “discovered” and re-discovered in so many different fields, that it is good to refer to their common properties, principles, and processes in order not to get lost in the huge v
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