Biofilm Environmentome: A Survival Experiment

Microbial biofilms are communities of constant symbiosis and interaction in adaptation with their environment. This signaling network determines the chemistry as well as the physiology of the biofilm, it also confers protection to the microorganisms embedded in this formation, which improves the chances of survival in the face of external aggression. This mechanism known as Quorum Sensing (QS) responds to both intracellular and extracellular signals and modulates the response of the biofilm to the immune system. This chemical response to the environmental factors involved, together with the genetic factors of the genome in the development of an individual constitute the environmentome, it which represents a new source of promising therapeutic targets for the development of new treatments that prevent the emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The aim of this comment paper is briefly to explore the initial elements of an approach that can be applied in the development of new tools for clinical diagnosis and treatment, as well as in other areas such as ecology.