The ever so elusive pathogen-harboring biofilms on abiotic surfaces in the food and clinical sectors: the good, the bad and the slimy

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Background

It has long been established that abiotic surfaces in the food and medical sectors are prone to the attachment and subsequent biofilm formation of commensal, spoilage, and pathogenic bacteria. The presence of such biofilms is known for situations in which the contamination of processed foods through cross-contamination is likely to lower the products' shelf life or, in the worst cases, lead to foodborne disease. The presence of biofilms in the medical sector has been associated with nosocomial infections and other forms of hospital-acquired conditions. The nature and properties of the microbial biofilm are determined via its unique microbial community that has found a way to adapt, persist and re-colonize in most areas of the food processing and clinical environments, as well as resist various hygienic procedures and strategies employed to eradicate these. As such, cleaning and disinfection of abiotic surfaces remain challenging, not only because of the possible establishment of antimicrobial-resistant organisms but also because of the difficulty of assessing the hygienic outcome of processed "hard-to-reach areas", a vulnerable liability to any hygiene program in the food and hospital sectors. There are existing knowledge gaps on the efficiency of cleaning and disinfection of these challenging areas concerning the residual biofilms and their properties, their specific microbial community including potential harbored pathogens; their function; reactivity, and the newly developed methods for detecting or eradicating them.

Hence, the proposed Research Topic will deal with the characterization of pathogen-harboring biofilms on abiotic surfaces in a wide range of "hard-to-reach areas" of the food processing and clinical environments, providing new insights into their microbial profile, function, and chemical/physical properties vis-à-vis to pathogen survival, persistence, and adaptation. Aspects of "positive" or commensal organisms against the proliferation and inhibition of pathogens (the good), the persistence and resistance of pathogenic microorganisms (the bad), and efforts in eradicating/detecting these pathogens or hazardous biofilms (the slimy) in less commonly investigated areas of the food processing and clinical environments would be primary focuses of this Research Topic.

Manuscripts from authors studying biofilms formation, lifestyles, and related microbiomes using state-of-the-art NGS technologies, meta-omics, predictive modeling, and risk assessments in food processing- and clinical environments will be welcomed. Moreover, studies on novel cleaning/sanitizing and detection strategies in "hard to reach" food processing areas and clinical settings targeting difficult biofilms are also encouraged.

Keywords: pathogen-harboring biofilms, food, clinical sectors

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