Conditioning film

Definition

A thin coating of organic material, corrosion byproducts, or deposits that forms on a wetted surface before microbes arrive.

Most wetted surfaces are already coated with a conditioning film, which changes the chemistry of the interface and gives drifting cells something to grab. It primes the surface so that the first cells do not arrive at bare metal. This pre-coating is part of why attachment can proceed even on apparently clean surfaces.

Related concepts

Biofilm · Attachment · Boundary layer

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Part of The Blueprint of Water · 🦠 biology