Dataset Information

A Bacillus subtilis sensor kinase involved in triggering biofilm formation on the roots of tomato plants.

ABSTRACT: The soil bacterium Bacillus subtilis is widely used in agriculture as a biocontrol agent able to protect plants from a variety of pathogens. Protection is thought to involve the formation of bacterial communities - biofilms - on the roots of the plants. Here we used confocal microscopy to visualize biofilms on the surface of the roots of tomato seedlings and demonstrated that biofilm formation requires genes governing the production of the extracellular matrix that holds cells together. We further show that biofilm formation was dependent on the sensor histidine kinase KinD and in particular on an extracellular CACHE domain implicated in small molecule sensing. Finally, we report that exudates of tomato roots strongly stimulated biofilm formation ex planta and that an abundant small molecule in the exudates, (L) -malic acid, was able to stimulate biofilm formation at high concentrations in a manner that depended on the KinD CACHE domain. We propose that small signalling molecules released by the roots of tomato plants are directly or indirectly recognized by KinD, triggering biofilm formation.

SUBMITTER: Chen Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3518419 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A Bacillus subtilis sensor kinase involved in triggering biofilm formation on the roots of tomato plants.

Chen Yun Y Cao Shugeng S Chai Yunrong Y Clardy Jon J Kolter Roberto R Guo Jian-hua JH Losick Richard R

Molecular microbiology 20120620 3

The soil bacterium Bacillus subtilis is widely used in agriculture as a biocontrol agent able to protect plants from a variety of pathogens. Protection is thought to involve the formation of bacterial communities - biofilms - on the roots of the plants. Here we used confocal microscopy to visualize biofilms on the surface of the roots of tomato seedlings and demonstrated that biofilm formation requires genes governing the production of the extracellular matrix that holds cells together. We furth ...[more]

PMID: 22716461

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Project description:Bacillus subtilis forms robust biofilms in the presence of large amounts of carbon sources, such as glycerol. However, little is known about the importance of the metabolic systems, or the relationship between metabolic systems and regulatory systems, involved in biofilm formation. Glutamate synthase, encoded by gltAB, is an enzyme that converts 2-ketoglutarate (a tricarboxylic acid [TCA] cycle intermediate) and glutamine into glutamate, which is a general amino group donor in metabolism. Here, we show that a ?gltA mutant exhibited early arrest of biofilm formation in complex medium containing glycerol. This phenotype was not due to glutamate auxotrophy. Consistent with its biofilm formation phenotype, the ?gltA mutant exhibited an early decrease in expression of the epsA and tapA operons, which are responsible for production of biofilm matrix polymers. This resulted from decreased activity of their regulator, Spo0A, as evidenced by reduced expression of other Spo0A-regulated genes in the ?gltA mutant. The ?gltA mutation prevented biofilm formation only in the presence of large amounts of glycerol. Moreover, limited expression of citrate synthase (but not other TCA enzymes) restored biofilm-forming ability to the ?gltA mutant. These results indicate that the ?gltA mutant accumulates an inhibitory intermediate (citrate) in the TCA cycle in the presence of large amounts of glycerol. The ?gltA mutant formed biofilms when excess iron was added to the medium. Taken together, the data suggest that accumulation of citrate ions by the ?gltA mutant causes iron shortage due to chelation, which prevents activation of Spo0A and causes defective biofilm formation.IMPORTANCE Bacillus subtilis, a model organism for bacterial biofilm formation, forms robust biofilms in a medium-dependent manner. Although the regulatory network that controls biofilm formation has been well studied, the importance of the underlying metabolic systems remains to be elucidated. The present study demonstrates that a metabolic disorder in a well-conserved metabolic system causes accumulation of an inhibitory metabolic intermediate that prevents activation of the system that regulates biofilm formation. These findings increase our understanding of the coordination between cellular metabolic status and the regulatory networks governing biofilm formation.

Dataset Information

A Bacillus subtilis sensor kinase involved in triggering biofilm formation on the roots of tomato plants.

Publications

A Bacillus subtilis sensor kinase involved in triggering biofilm formation on the roots of tomato plants.

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