Agar plate culture of the fungus Candida albicansWIKIMEDIA COMMONS, CDC, WILLIAM KAPLAN
New findings challenge the idea that each pathogen forms only a single type of biofilm, which can form inside the body, particularly on implanted medical devices, contributing to disease. The fungus Candida albicans can actually make two different biofilms, according to research published earlier this week (August 2) in PLoS Biology: while about 90 percent of the cells form traditional pathogenic biofilms, the other 10 percent comprised sexual biofilms—whose cells, unlike those of the pathogenic biofilms, are sexually competent.
Sexuality comes at a cost, however. The fungal cells of the sexual biofilm are susceptible to drugs and immune attacks, in contrast to the pathogenic biofilms, which are nearly impervious to antimicrobial agents, antibodies or white blood cells. Thus, while the majority of the biofilms could ...
