K. Chairman ¹ , K. Elizabath Mathew ² , R. Vigila Christy ¹ , C. Padmalatha ² , A.J.A. Ranjit Singh ¹

1 Department of Advanced Zoology and Biotechnology, Sri Paramakalyani College, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Alwarkurichi, Tirunelveli, Tamilnadu, India, 627412
2 M.V.M. Govt. Arts and Science College, Dindugal District, Tamilnadu, India
Author    Correspondence author
International Journal of Clinical Case Reports, 2013, Vol. 3, No. 6   doi: 10.5376/ijccr.2013.03.0006
Received: 25 Apr., 2013    Accepted: 10 May, 2013    Published: 12 May, 2013

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Bacterial biofilms are surface-attached communities of microorganisms that are protected by an extracellular matrix of biomolecules. In the biofilm state, bacteria are significantly more resistant to external assault, including attack by antibiotics. In their native environment, bacterial biofilms underpin costly biofouling that wreaks havoc on shipping, utilities, and offshore industry. Within a host environment, they are insensitive to antiseptics and basic host immune responses. It is estimated that up to 80% of all microbial infections are biofilm-based. Biofilm infections of indwelling medical devices are of particular concern, since once the device is colonized, infection is almost impossible to eliminate. Importantly, we discuss several sets of compounds derived from marine sponges that we are developing in our labs to address the persistent biofilm problem. Marine bioactive compound synthesis of natural products and their analogues-including our marine sponge-derived compounds and initial adjuvant activity and toxicological screening of our novel anti-biofilm compounds.

Biofilms; Antifouling; Marine sponges; 2-methoxydecanoic acid;3-hydroxytetradecanoic acid compound