Compressive strength of fungal and oral biofilms: biological and environmental influences

Biofilms play an important role in medically-related fields as they are a major cause of many clinical infections. Knowledge about properties of medically-related biofilms can be beneficial for making predictions about effectiveness of treatments and for development of new medications. In my thesis I investigated which factors influence strength of fungal biofilms of Candida species and oral biofilms. C. albicans is the most frequently isolated fungal species in clinical infections; other Candida species recently emerged as clinically important pathogens. Oral biofilms are known to cause dental caries and periodontitis. In my thesis I studied how morphological and species composition, biofilm architecture, hydrodynamic conditions during growth, slime composition and quorum sensing influence biofilm mechanical properties. Based on my findings, I made suggestions for potential treatments and future work in the area of medical biofilm mechanics