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Using the methods of transmission electron microscopy, the structure of the biofilms formed by the bacterium Burkholderia cepacia (clinical isolate and mutants with an increased and decreased ability to produce biofilms) were investigated. The biofilms were obtained on a liquid nutrient medium or on an abiotic surface (polystyrene). It has been demonstrated that the cultures of the studied strains differ in some morphological and functional characteristics. In biofilms, changes in the size and submicroscopic organization of all the components of bacterial cells occur. Staining biofilms with ruthenium red revealed the presence of exopolysaccharides in the intercellular space. The differences in the ultrastructure of bacterial films formed on nutrient medium and abiotic surfaces were demonstrated.

This paper is a brief review of data on bacterial biofilms that occur inside and outside of host organisms. Such biofilms are of great ecological and clinical importance. The role of interspecies communications in the development of bacterial biofilms and infectious diseases is particularly emphasized. Considerable attention is given to the electron microscopic study of biofilms formed by Salmonella typhimurium cells incubated as a broth culture in microtubes without aeration. Bacterial samples taken from the biofilm and planktonic culture grown in the same microtube were comparatively investigated by transmission electron microscopy.