Chapter 18 - CRISPR interference system: a potential strategy to inhibit pathogenic biofilm in the agri-food sector

Abstract

Biofilm is a complex ecosystem or community of bacteria embedded in the exopolymer matrix showing a sessile lifestyle, coordinated behavior, and high resistance to antimicrobials. They are extensively studied in the agro-food sector since they enormously impact food security, economy, and health. The biofilm-mediated pathogenic or disease-causing microbe’s colonization leads to many crop diseases and production loss resulting in a substantial economic loss in the agricultural industry. The biofilms of the food industry show harmful and beneficial impacts depends on the nature of the involved organism. If food industry biofilm-forming organisms are foodborne pathogens or spoilage-causing organisms, their biofilms are challenging and concerning one as they become persistent cross-contamination sources. They not only reduce the efficacy of processing techniques but also compromise the quality and safety of processed foods. Many multigenic signaling pathways and regulatory networks control the biofilm formation, establishment, and dispersion. Hence, the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) interference system has ample scope developing potential mechanism-based microbiological and target genomics strategies for inhibiting the harmful biofilms of the agri-food sector. This chapter’s content includes the events unfolding biofilm formation in agro-food settings, the role of biofilms, and the various CRISPR-based approaches developed for preventing, inactivating, and removing the pathogenic biofilms. It also includes the developed CRISPR-based techniques outcome in disease, contamination, spoilage prevention, and the development of effective cleaners and sanitizers. The efforts needed to improve the cleaning and sanitizing program are used to inactivate microorganisms and prevent biofilms formation.