Flagellar and twitching motility are necessary for Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm development
George A. O'Toole,Roberto Kolter +1 more
TLDR
The isolation and characterization of mutants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA14 defective in the initiation of biofilm formation on an abiotic surface, polyvinylchloride (PVC) plastic are reported and evidence that microcolonies form by aggregation of cells present in the monolayer is presented.Abstract:
The formation of complex bacterial communities known as biofilms begins with the interaction of planktonic cells with a surface in response to appropriate environmental signals. We report the isolation and characterization of mutants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA14 defective in the initiation of biofilm formation on an abiotic surface, polyvinylchloride (PVC) plastic. These mutants are designated surface attachment defective (sad ). Two classes of sad mutants were analysed: (i) mutants defective in flagellar-mediated motility and (ii) mutants defective in biogenesis of the polar-localized type IV pili. We followed the development of the biofilm formed by the wild type over 8 h using phase-contrast microscopy. The wild-type strain first formed a monolayer of cells on the abiotic surface, followed by the appearance of microcolonies that were dispersed throughout the monolayer of cells. Using time-lapse microscopy, we present evidence that microcolonies form by aggregation of cells present in the monolayer. As observed with the wild type, strains with mutations in genes required for the synthesis of type IV pili formed a monolayer of cells on the PVC plastic. However, in contrast to the wild-type strain, the type IV pili mutants did not develop microcolonies over the course of the experiments, suggesting that these structures play an important role in microcolony formation. Very few cells of a non-motile strain (carrying a mutation in flgK) attached to PVC even after 8 h of incubation, suggesting a role for flagella and/or motility in the initial cell-to-surface interactions. The phenotype of these mutants thus allows us to initiate the dissection of the developmental pathway leading to biofilm formation.read more
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Bacterial biofilms : A common cause of persistent infections
TL;DR: Improvements in understanding of the genetic and molecular basis of bacterial community behavior point to therapeutic targets that may provide a means for the control of biofilm infections.
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Complete genome sequence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1, an opportunistic pathogen.
Charles K. Stover,X. Q. Pham,A. L. Erwin,S. D. Mizoguchi,Paul Warrener,Mark J. Hickey,Fiona S. L. Brinkman,W. O. Hufnagle,D. J. Kowalik,Lagrou Mj,R. L. Garber,L. Goltry,E. Tolentino,S. Westbrock-Wadman,Ying Yuan,L. L. Brody,S. N. Coulter,K. R. Folger,Arnold Kas,K. Larbig,R. Lim,Kelly D. Smith,David H. Spencer,Gane Ka-Shu Wong,Z. Wu,Ian T. Paulsen,Ian T. Paulsen,Jonathan Reizer,Milton H. Saier,Robert E. W. Hancock,Stephen Lory,Maynard V. Olson +31 more
TL;DR: It is proposed that the size and complexity of the P. aeruginosa genome reflect an evolutionary adaptation permitting it to thrive in diverse environments and resist the effects of a variety of antimicrobial substances.
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Biofilm Formation as Microbial Development
TL;DR: The results reviewed in this article indicate that the formation of biofilms serves as a new model system for the study of microbial development.
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Microbial Biofilms: from Ecology to Molecular Genetics
Mary E. Davey,George A. O'Toole +1 more
TL;DR: The recent explosion in the field of biofilm research has led to exciting progress in the development of new technologies for studying these communities, advanced the authors' understanding of the ecological significance of surface-attached bacteria, and provided new insights into the molecular genetic basis ofBiofilm development.
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Biofilms as complex differentiated communities.
TL;DR: It is submitted that complex cell-cell interactions within prokaryotic communities are an ancient characteristic, the development of which was facilitated by the localization of cells at surfaces, which may have provided the protective niche in which attached cells could create a localized homeostatic environment.
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Journal ArticleDOI
Initiation of biofilm formation in Pseudomonas fluorescens WCS365 proceeds via multiple, convergent signalling pathways: a genetic analysis
George A. O'Toole,Roberto Kolter +1 more
TL;DR: The genetic analyses suggest that biofilm formation can proceed via multiple, convergent signalling pathways, which are regulated by various environmental signals, and that of the 24 sad mutants analysed in this study, only three had defects in genes of known function.
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