Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering for Biofilm Characterization

Microorganisms are known as the predominant life form on Earth because of their variability and high metabolic activity. Most of the organisms require protection during their growth after their adhesion onto a surface. The protection layers are known as extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), which include organic based materials such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids, and humic-like substances. Microorganisms are found in an embedded form in an EPS matrix, and this whole structure is referred to as a biofilm. The identification and characterization of microorganisms and their growth dynamics based on produced metabolites are very important in fields ranging from the accurate and rapid diagnosis of bacterial infections to industrial processes. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a powerful technique for identification and characterization of biological molecules and biomolecular organizations. In this review, the effort to use SERS for in situ molecular characterization of biofilms is discussed.