Table 1.
State of Targeted Biofilm (below): | Use in Defense (δ) (resource protection) | Use as Offense (ω) (resource acquisition) |
---|---|---|
“Before” (B) biofilms have formed as the target state | δB: Protection of antibiotic-producing organisms from death or displacement that may be mediated by target, disseminating bacteria (ωD-1 or ωD-3 represent what potentially is being protected against) | ωB: Destruction of target, disseminating bacteria in order to obtain nutrients that are directly associated with those bacteria (δD-1 could serve as a potential counter measure mediated by these target bacteria) |
“During” (D) biofilm sessile existence as the target state | δD-1: Protection of antibiotic-producing disseminating organism from target, biofilm bacteria (ωB represents what potentially is being protected against); δD-2: Protection of antibiotic-producing organisms as found within biofilms from encroachment or consumption by adjacent, target, biofilm bacteria (ωD-2 or ωD-3 represent what potentially is being protected against) |
ωD-1: Displacement of target, biofilm bacteria by disseminating, antibiotic-producing bacteria (in order to obtain “Space”); ωD-2: Encroachment by antibiotic-producing, biofilm bacteria on adjacent, target, biofilm bacteria (in order to obtain “Space”); ωD-3: Destruction of target, biofilm bacteria by antibiotic-producing organism in order to obtain nutrients from those target bacteria |
“After” (A) biofilms have been disrupted as the target state | δA: Destruction of target bacteria that have been displaced from biofilms, in order to prevent competition for nutrients | ωA: Destruction of target bacteria that have been displaced from biofilms, in order to obtain nutrients from those bacteria |