By Tia Ghose
Forget soft, cushy digs. Bacteria like to set up house and home on stiff surfaces.
Bacteria form more colonies on rigid surfaces, a team of researchers report in the May 2 Biomacromolecules. The trait could be exploited to improve designs of bacteria-resistant medical implants.
When free-floating bacteria come into contact with surfaces, they sometimes attach and form a biofilm — a layered mass of bacteria that ooze polymers that create a protective matrix. The sticky structure helps glue the bacteria in place. Surrounded by the matrix, the bacterial biofilm can go on to cause antibiotic-resistant infections.