Abstract:

Pathogenic fungi in the genus Candida can cause both superficial and serious systemic disease, and are now recognized as major agents of hospital-acquired infection.

Candida infections involve the formation of biofilms on implanted devices such as indwelling catheters or prosthetic heart valves. Nosocomial infections due to candida are also becoming increasingly important. Early and prompt diagnosis, proper treatment and prevention of candidemia due to biofilms pose a major challenge for microbiologists and clinicians worldwide. Biofilm is an aggregate of microorganism in which cell adhere to each other on a surface. It has been reported that organism in biofilms are more resistant to antimicrobial agents than there planktonic (free) form. Formation of a biofilm begins with the attachment of free-floating microorganisms to a surface. These first adhere to the surface initially through weak, reversible adhesion via Vander Waal forces. If the colonies are not immediately separated from the surface, they can anchor themselves more permanently using cell adhesion structures such as pilli. There are five stages of biofilm development such as i) initial attachment ii) irreversible attachment iii) maturation I iv) maturation II v) dispersion.

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