**Author details**

*Bacterial Biofilms*

**2. Conclusions**

**Acknowledgements**

**Conflict of interest**

**Author contributions**

manuscript.

tory are supported by Birzeit University.

potentially be construed as a conflict of interest.

volume and showed some efficacy against *Staphylococcus aureus* and *Staphylococcus epidermidis* biofilms [117–119]. Moreover, several natural compounds (biosurfactants, antimicrobial peptides, protein and essential oil) have been shown to exhibit anti-*Legionella* properties [120]. Collectively, it is necessary to control *L. pneumoph-*

Several chemical and physical parameters can influence the behavior of *L. pneumophila* in biofilms, including the surface, the temperature, carbon and metal concentrations, and the presence of biocides [17, 18, 34, 114, 121–128]. Biological factors such as being a member of mixed species biofilm or parasitizing free-living amoeba or nematodes influence biofilm formation by *L. pneumophila*. Biofilmassociated *L. pneumophila* is resistant to biocides and Legionellosis outbreaks have been attributed to biofilms. Therefore, it is essential to design new remedies for eradication of *L. pneumophila* biofilm in different environmental settings. Treatment studies should be performed when the bacterium is in its natural host to determine how the bacterium is protected inside the amoeba and if the passages through the natural hosts modify the resistance. Thus, preventing biofilm forma-

Studies in Dr. Amer's laboratory are supported by The Ohio State University Center for Clinical and Translational Science Longitudinal Pilot Award (CCTS), R21 AI113477, R01 AI24121 and R01 HL127651. Studies in Dr. Abu Khweek's labora-

The authors of the manuscript declare that the submitted work was carried out in the absence of any personal, professional or financial relationships that could

Arwa Abu Khweek wrote the book chapter, and Amal O. Amer edited the

*ila* growth and their natural hosts to optimize eradication of the bacteria.

tion appears as one strategy to reduce water system contamination.

**268**

Arwa Abu Khweek1 and Amal O. Amer2 \*

1 Department of Biology and Biochemistry, Birzeit University, West Bank, Palestine

2 Department of Microbial Infection and Immunity, Infectious Disease Institute, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States

\*Address all correspondence to: amal.amer@osumc.edu

© 2019 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
