Question

why are bacteria in biofilms harder to control than bacteria that are on their own (i.e., NOT a part of biofilms)?

Answer 1

Biofilms are produced by microorganisms for colonizing surfaces,it is slimy and glue like in appearence.They protect microbes from antibodies and body's immune system.Biofilm formation is a major threat to medical technologies,it may make antibiotic resistance.A biofilm is made up of extracellular plymeric substances like cellulose,alginate,teichoic acid,proteins,lipids,nucleic acids,phospholipid,extracellular DNA etc.By biofilm formation multiple communites of microbes can attach to a surface and they will get multiple resistance.Different mechanism that helps bacteria from antibiotics or other controls are failure of antimicrobial agents to penetrate the film,slow grotwh of colonies,heterogenity of colonies,mutation of biofilms,induction of biofilm specific phenotypes etc.