In this video, we're going to briefly distinguish between capsules and slime layers, which are really two categories of the glycocalyx, two forms that the glycocalyx can take on. And so capsules are highly organized and dense layers of polysaccharides that are tightly anchored to the cell. Now slime layers, on the other hand, are unorganized layers of polysaccharides, and they are going to be easily removable from the cell because they are not as tightly anchored. And so if we take a look at the image down below, notice that the top half of the image is focused on capsules, and the bottom half of the image is focused on slime layers. And notice that both of them are represented as a yellow border that is surrounding the perimeter of the cell.
However, notice that the capsule is very highly organized, whereas the slime layer is not nearly as organized, and it's going to be easily removable from the cell, whereas the capsules on top are going to be tightly anchored. And so, zooming in, you can see the organized structure of the capsule and the unorganized structure of the slime layer. Now, regardless if the glycocalyx takes on a capsule or slime layer form, the glycocalyx is going to be important for the formation of what are known as biofilms. And so, we'll get to talk a lot more about biofilms in our next lesson video.
But for now, this here concludes our brief lesson here on capsules versus slime layers, and we'll be able to get some practice applying these concepts as we move forward. So I'll see you all in our next video.