Biofilm history and names
Over the years, a considerable amount of research has dealt with the subject of biofilm. The first official report of surface-associated microbial cells was in 1684, when Van Leeuwenhoek informed the Royal Society of London that he had observed an accumulation of microorganisms on tooth surfaces using a simple microscope. But it was not until 1936 that Zobell and Anderson introduced the term periphytes , referring to bacteria associated with surfaces in bottles used to store seawater (Zobell and Anderson, 1936). The examination of biofilms was promoted just after electron microscope development, which allowed high resolution at much higher magnifications than when observed under the light microscope (Donlan, 2002). In the following decades many microbiologists investigated aquatic bacteria, especially for the study and treatment of many serious diseases. Some studies reported that bacteria attached to aquatic surfaces are often 1,000 or 10,000 times greater in number than plankton