Role of Escherichia coli curli in relation with intestinal components - mucin, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Enterococcus faecalis

.........................................................................................................i Résumé..........................................................................................................ii List of Publications ........................................................................................................................ iii Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................. iv List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ xi List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... xiv Chapter 1 Overview ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Biofilm in the environment ................................................................................................... 1 1.1.1 Biofilm development involves many extracellular structures ........................................ 2 1.1.1.1 Cellulose and colanic acid ....................................................................................... 2 1.1.1.2 Flagella ..................................................................................................................... 4 1.1.1.3 Antigen 43 ................................................................................................................ 5 1.1.1.4 Type 1 pili ................................................................................................................ 6 1.1.1.5 Curli ......................................................................................................................... 7 1.1.1.6 The complex regulation of curli synthesis ............................................................... 9 1.1.1.6.1 Environmental conditions ................................................................................. 9 1.1.1.6.2 Genetic regulation ........................................................................................... 10 1.1.2 Biofilm development is a dynamic and adaptive process ............................................. 11 1.1.2.1 Dynamics of extracellular structure production. .................................................... 11 1.1.2.2 Adaptive nature of biofilm development. .............................................................. 12 1.2 Biofilm in the human body.................................................................................................. 12 1.2.1 Symbiotic microbiota as a human organ ...................................................................... 13 1.2.2 The importance of mucin .............................................................................................. 14 1.2.3 From the bacterial point of view ................................................................................... 15 1.3 Objective ............................................................................................................................. 16 Chapter 2 Experimental models and analytical tools .................................................................. 19 2.1 Growth media and temperature ........................................................................................... 19 2.2 Types of culture ................................................................................................................... 21 2.2.1 Planktonic ..................................................................................................................... 21 2.2.2 Biofilm – saturated vs. interface models ...................................................................... 21 2.2.3 Co-culture of E. coli with K. pneumoniae and E. faecalis ........................................... 24 2.3 Modes of Analysis ............................................................................................................... 26 te l-0 06 57 24 7, v er si on 1 6 Ja n 20 12