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Biofilms are communities of one or more species of microorganisms living within the protection of an extracellular matrix composed of polysaccharides, proteins, DNA, and other molecules, collectively termed as the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) [12, 19, 22].

Microbial EPS is crucial for the formation of biofilm and cell aggregates, which contribute to protect cells from hostile environments and can bind significant amounts of heavy metals [53–56]. Biofilm and planktonic cells have distinct heavy metal and metalloid susceptibility [57–59]. It is suggested that the complexation or sequestration of heavy metals and retarding their diffusion in to the biofilm may be responsible for protecting cells from heavy metal toxicity [58]. Microbial EPS are also of particular interest and relevance to the bioremediation process due to their involvement in flocculation and binding of heavy metals from solutions [53, 60–62].