Project description:Chronic Pseudomonas biofilm infections are commonly associated in patients afflicted with cystic fibrosis (CF) leading to high degree of morbidity. In a murine tumor model we demonstrated that P. aeruginosa efficiently colonizes and forms biofilms in cancerous tissue post intra-venous injection. Several non-biofilm forming mutants have been identified and incorporated in the present study. Biofilm formation by wild type strains was evident in electron microscopy and immuno-histological studies. Efficacy of currently available CF infection treatment antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin, colistin and tobramycin were tested in this model. We found out that normal doses of these antibiotics were unable to eliminate wild type P. aeruginosa PA14. However, transposon mutants of P. aeruginosa PA14 (pqsA & Pel A) had strong influence on colonization. Subsequently high doses were effective against wild type P. aeruginosa PA14 biofilms.
Project description:P. aeruginosa PA14 mutant strain PA4496 expression in biofilm cells relative to PA14 wild-type strain expression in biofilm cells. All samples cultured in LB with glass wool
Project description:Biofilms are ubiquitous in natural, medical, and engineering environments. While most antibiotics that primarily aim to inhibit cell growth may result in bacterial drug resistance, biofilm inhibitors do not affect cell growth and there is less chance of developing resistance. This work sought to identify novel, non-toxic and potent biofilm inhibitors from Streptomyces bacteria for reducing the biofilm formation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1. Out of 4300 Streptomyces strains, one species produced and secreted peptide(s) to inhibit P. aeruginosa biofilm formation by 93% without affecting the growth of planktonic cells. Global transcriptome analyses (DNA microarray) revealed that the supernatant of the Streptomyces 230 strain induced phenazine, pyoverdine, and pyochelin synthesis genes. Electron microscopy showed that the supernatant of Streptomyces 230 strain reduced the production of polymeric matrix in P. aeruginosa biofilm cells, while the Streptomyces species enhanced swarming motility of P. aeruginosa. Therefore, current study suggests that Streptomyces bacteria are an important resource of biofilm inhibitors as well as antibiotics.
Project description:Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the etiologic agent of gonorrhea, is frequently asymptomatic in women, often leading to chronic infections. One factor contributing to this may be biofilm formation. N. gonorrhoeae can form biofilms over glass and plastic surfaces. There is also evidence that biofilm formation may occur during natural cervical infection. To further study the mechanism of this biofilm formation, transcriptional profiles of N. gonorrhoeae biofilm were compared to planktonic profiles. Biofilm RNA was extracted from N. gonorrhoeae 1291 grown for 48 hours in continuous flow chambers over glass. Planktonic RNA was extracted from the biofilm runoff. When biofilm was compared to planktonic growth, 3.8 % of the genome was differentially regulated. Genes highly up-regulated in biofilm included aniA, norB, and ccp, which play critical roles in anaerobic metabolism and oxidative stress tolerance. Down-regulated genes included the nuo gene cluster (NADH dehydrogenase) and the cytochrome bcI complex, which are involved in aerobic respiration and are thought to contribute to endogenous oxidative stress. Furthermore, we determined that aniA, ccp, and norB insertional mutants are attenuated for biofilm formation over glass and transformed human cervical epithelial cells (THCEC). This data suggests that biofilm formation could minimize oxidative stress during cervical infection and allow N. gonorrhoeae to maintain a nitric oxide steady state that may be anti-inflammatory.