A transmission ratio distortion and the ‘max-4’ ascus phenotype: Do both reflect the same Bateson-Dobzhansky-Muller Incompatibility emerging during trans-species introgression of translocations in Neurospora?

ABSTRACT

Over the last couple of decades, with the crisis of new antimicrobial arsenal, multidrug-resistant clinicalpathogens have been observed extensively. In clinical and medical settings, these persistent pathogens predominantly grow as complex heterogeneous structures enmeshed in a self-produced exopolysaccharide matrix,termed as biofilms. Since biofilms can rapidly form by adapting new environmental surroundings and havepotential effect on human health, it is critical to study them promptly and consistently. Biofilm infections arechallenging in the contamination of medical devices and implantations, food processing and pharmaceuticalindustrial settings, and in dental area caries, periodontitis and so on. The persistence of infections associatedwith biofilms has been mainly attributed to the increased antibiotic resistance offered by the cells growing inbiofilms. In fact, it is well known that this recalcitrance of bacterial biofilms is multifactorial, and there areseveral resistance mechanisms that may act in parallel in order to provide an enhanced level of resistance to thebiofilm. In combination, distinct resistance mechanisms significantly decrease our ability to control anderadicate biofilm-associated infections with current antimicrobial arsenal. In addition, various factors areknown to influence the process of biofilm formation, growth dynamics, and their heterogeneous responsetowards antibiotic therapy. The current review discusses the contribution of cellular and physiochemical factorson the growth dynamics of biofilm, especially their role in antibiotic resistance mechanisms of bacterialpopulation living in surface attached growth mode. A systematic investigation on the effects and treatment ofbiofilms may pave the way for novel therapeutic strategies to prevent and treat biofilms in healthcare andindustrial settings.