Biofilms are communities of cells held together by a self-produced extracellular matrix typically consisting of protein, exopolysaccharide, and often DNA. A natural signal for biofilm disassembly in Bacillus subtilis is certain D-amino acids, which are incorporated into the peptidoglycan and trigger the release of the protein component of the matrix. D-amino acids also prevent biofilm formation...

Because there is no effective antibiotic to eradicate Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilm infections that lead to the failure of medical device implantations, the development of anti-biofilm vaccines is necessary. Biofilm formation by S. epidermidis requires accumulation-associated protein (Aap) that contains sequence repeats known as G5 domains, which are responsible for the Zn(2+)-dependent di...

Biofilms play an important role in many chronic bacterial infections. Production of an extracellular mixture of sugar polymers called exopolysaccharide is characteristic and critical for biofilm formation. However, there is limited information about the mechanisms involved in the biosynthesis and modification of exopolysaccharide components and how these processes influence bacterial pathogenes...

Staphylococcus aureus can establish chronic infections on implanted medical devices due to its capacity to form biofilms. Analysis of the factors that assemble cells into a biofilm has revealed the occurrence of strains that produce either a polysaccharide intercellular adhesin/poly-N-acetylglucosamine (PIA/PNAG) exopolysaccharide- or a protein-dependent biofilm. Examination of the influence of...

Mastitis is a one of the major diseases of dairy animals. Staphylococcus aureus is the most common microorganism associated with this dairy scourge. Cure rates of mastitis associated with this pathogen are appallingly low. Biofilm is an important virulence factor and immunogenic structure of S. aureus that makes it resistant to phagocytosis and antibiotics. Reports on the efficacy of vaccine pr...

Rhamnolipid (RL) can inhibit biofilm formation of Escherichia coli O157:H7, but the associated mechanism remains unknown. We here conducted comparative physiological and transcriptomic analyses cultures treated with RL untreated to elucidate a potential by which may in E. O157:H7. Anti-biofilm assays showed that over 70% O157:H7 capacity was inhibited treatment 0.25–1 mg/mL RL. Cellular-level a...

It is unclear whether Streptococcus pneumoniae in biofilms are virulent and contribute to development of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD). Using electron microscopy we confirmed the development of mature pneumococcal biofilms in a continuous-flow-through line model and determined that biofilm formation occurred in discrete stages with mature biofilms composed primarily of dead pneumococci. C...

conclusions overall, except for pcvd432 and aggr, we detected high heterogeneity of virulence factors among eaec isolates causing diarrhea in children. one set of genes, in the combination, pic- sepa- agg4a, was associated with strong biofilm. results among the 322 e. coli isolated, 23 were identified as eaec. all eaec carried a 630-bp fragment of the plasmid (paa) encoded pcvd432 and aggr gene...

Biofilm causes hospital-associated infections on indwelling medical devices. In Staphylococcus aureus, Biofilm formation is controlled by intricately coordinated network of regulating systems, of which the ATP-dependent protease ClpP shows an inhibitory effect. Here, we demonstrate that the inhibitory effect of ClpP on biofilm formation is through Agr and the cell wall hydrolase Sle1. Biofilm f...

Periodontal infections cause inflammatory destruction of the tooth supporting tissues. We recently developed a dynamic, in vitro periodontal organotypic tissue model in a perfusion bioreactor system, in co-culture with an 11-species subgingival biofilm, which may recapitulate early events during the establishment of periodontal infections. This study aimed to characterize the global proteome re...