Biofilms on microplastics in wastewater treatment systems can act as a refuge for harmful pathogens, according to a new study from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. This includes bacteria ...

Microbial biofilms form on all aquatic surfaces and can harbor pathogenic bacteria. In the aquaculture industry, Flavobacteria species can cause serious diseases and lead to high mortality. These ...

The team say the most common strain found on the microplastics by far, Novosphingobium pokkalii, is likely a key initiator in forming the sticky biofilm that attracts such pathogens -- as it ...

Drug resistant bacteria have been found within persistent biofilms in the aquatic ... Jacques, M. & Harel, J. (2015) High-Throughput Microfluidic Method To Study Biofilm Formation and Host ...

Biofilms are groups of bacteria, algae and fungi that develop on immersed objects ... Contamination of the aquatic environment by pesticides can modify their structure, ...

The bacteria form a biofilm on the surface of the plastics that cumulate in the municipal wastewater treatment plants, allowing further pathogens and antibiotic waste to build up. By living in these ...

A new study shows how microplastics found in our daily personal care products can also host pathogens and boost antibiotic-resistant bacteria by up to 30 times once they wash down household drains ...

Of the outbreaks, 87% were linked to pathogen biofilms, and 80% involved contaminated water from public water systems. Legionella thrives with the aquatic bacteria on the surface of biofilms ...

While the current study was only proof-of-concept, in the following months, the researchers plan to isolate and identify natural pro-biofilm forming bacteria from sewage or other aquatic ...