About this Research Topic
Biofilms are sometimes referred to as a 'city of microbes' and the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) that encase biofilms as 'house of the biofilm cells'. The EPS determine the immediate conditions of life of biofilm cells and contribute to the unique attributes of biofilm lifestyle. Often, biofilms grow on a material interface in both natural and engineered systems — agricultural, industrial, and human. Biofilms can grow on biotic tissues as well as technologically relevant abiotic materials. Owing to its versatile growth patterns, they tend to colonize and attach many material/liquid and material/vapor interfaces facing biofilms causing a range of fouling and microbiologically influenced corrosion issues. Detached cells from biofilms can transmit pathogens in food production facilities, water pipelines, and medical devices. The U.S alone spends ~$90 billion annually to combat problems resulting from infection. Negative implications of biofilms are also observed in oil, gas, and water distribution systems on the earth as well as in spacecrafts and International Space Station (ISS) environments.
In certain cases, biofilms are extremely beneficial, having applications in bioprocessing and environmental biotechnology. A suite of environmental technologies often rely upon biofilms grown purposefully on material surfaces. Examples include use of biofilms for wastewater treatment and waste gas valorization. They can be used in a range of other applications including gas cleaning and biogas upgrading in tricking bed rector, biofilter and bio scrubber, and membrane bioreactors. Emerging technologies include formation of biofilms by electroactive microbes on metal surfaces, especially for developing microbial fuel for electricity generation from renewable sources and microbial electrosynthesis for CO2 reduction.
The current topic explores both fundamental and applied aspects of material-microbe interactions in a diverse field of science and engineering applications. Here, our goal for the scientific community is to unravel emerging data science toolkits that can deeply integrate Metagenomics, Metatranscriptomics, Metaproteomics, Metametabolomics, Single Cell Genomics, Functional Genomics, Synthetic Microbiology, Bioinformatics and Computational bioscience. Such tool kits are expected to address grand challenges facing biofilm research. Examples of tool kits include those based on computer vision tools for biofilm image analysis, Artificial Intelligence approaches for biofilm detection, metagenomics of microbiome community and biofilm.
This topic welcomes articles on the following, but not limited to, subthemes:
• Computational methods for biofilm analyses
• Detrimental bacterial and fungal biofilms responsible for microbiologically influenced corrosion
• Electroactive biofilms involved in microbial fuel cells and microbial electrosynthesis cells
• Biofilm phenotypical responses
• Rules of life of biofilms grown on various surfaces
• System biology and quorum sensing of biofilms
• Modeling biofilm-material interfaces
• Biofilms dataset collection, information database and data mining process
• Predictive tool and artificial intelligence for analyzing biofilm at different omics level
• Bioinformatics tools for biofilm engineering
• Nanoscale coatings for biofilm control and microbial corrosion prevention
• Biofilms in health and disease
• Plant biofilms
• Computer Simulation Models to study Biofilm development and dynamics
• Biofilm-material interfaces in bioprocess
• Biocompatible materials
• Electron transfer mechanisms in bioelectrochemical system
• Antibiotic resistance genes in biofilms of water distribution systems
• Biofilm carrier materials in wastewater infrastructure
• Biofilms for direct inter species electron transfer in anaerobic digestion
• Membrane bioreactors
• Modeling and simulations of biofilm-based technology
In certain cases, biofilms are extremely beneficial, having applications in bioprocessing and environmental biotechnology. A suite of environmental technologies often rely upon biofilms grown purposefully on material surfaces. Examples include use of biofilms for wastewater treatment and waste gas valorization. They can be used in a range of other applications including gas cleaning and biogas upgrading in tricking bed rector, biofilter and bio scrubber, and membrane bioreactors. Emerging technologies include formation of biofilms by electroactive microbes on metal surfaces, especially for developing microbial fuel for electricity generation from renewable sources and microbial electrosynthesis for CO2 reduction.
The current topic explores both fundamental and applied aspects of material-microbe interactions in a diverse field of science and engineering applications. Here, our goal for the scientific community is to unravel emerging data science toolkits that can deeply integrate Metagenomics, Metatranscriptomics, Metaproteomics, Metametabolomics, Single Cell Genomics, Functional Genomics, Synthetic Microbiology, Bioinformatics and Computational bioscience. Such tool kits are expected to address grand challenges facing biofilm research. Examples of tool kits include those based on computer vision tools for biofilm image analysis, Artificial Intelligence approaches for biofilm detection, metagenomics of microbiome community and biofilm.
This topic welcomes articles on the following, but not limited to, subthemes:
• Computational methods for biofilm analyses
• Detrimental bacterial and fungal biofilms responsible for microbiologically influenced corrosion
• Electroactive biofilms involved in microbial fuel cells and microbial electrosynthesis cells
• Biofilm phenotypical responses
• Rules of life of biofilms grown on various surfaces
• System biology and quorum sensing of biofilms
• Modeling biofilm-material interfaces
• Biofilms dataset collection, information database and data mining process
• Predictive tool and artificial intelligence for analyzing biofilm at different omics level
• Bioinformatics tools for biofilm engineering
• Nanoscale coatings for biofilm control and microbial corrosion prevention
• Biofilms in health and disease
• Plant biofilms
• Computer Simulation Models to study Biofilm development and dynamics
• Biofilm-material interfaces in bioprocess
• Biocompatible materials
• Electron transfer mechanisms in bioelectrochemical system
• Antibiotic resistance genes in biofilms of water distribution systems
• Biofilm carrier materials in wastewater infrastructure
• Biofilms for direct inter species electron transfer in anaerobic digestion
• Membrane bioreactors
• Modeling and simulations of biofilm-based technology
Keywords: Systems Biology, Meta-omics, Metagenomics, Metatranscriptomics, Metaproteomics, Metametabolomics, Single Cell Genomics, Functional Genomics, Synthetic Microbiology, Biofilms, Biointerfaces, Microbial Corrosion, Microbial Fuel Cells, Bioinformatics, Computational bioscience, 2D materials, and corrosion protection coatings
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
