Project description:Background: Biofilm formation by Salmonella species enhances the capacity of these pathogenic bacteria to survive stresses that are commonly encountered within food processing and during host infection. The persistence of Salmonella within the food chain has become a major health concern, as biofilms can serve as a reservoir to contaminate food products. While the molecular mechanisms required for the survival of bacteria on surfaces are not fully understood, transcriptional studies of other bacteria have demonstrated that biofilm growth triggers the expression of specific sets of genes, compared with planktonic cells. Until now, most transcriptomic studies of Salmonella have focused on the effect of infection-relevant stressors on virulence and on comparing mutant and wild-type (WT). However little is known about the physiological responses taking place inside a Salmonella biofilm. Results: We have determined the transcriptomic and proteomic profiles of biofilms of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. We discovered that 124 of detectable proteins were differentially expressed in the biofilm compared with planktonic cells, and that 10% (433 genes) of S. Typhimurium genes showed a biofilm-specific pattern of transcription (i.e. a 2-fold or more change in the biofilm compared with planktonic cells). The genes that were significantly up-regulated implicated specific cellular processes in biofilm development including amino acid metabolism, cell motility, global regulation and tolerance to stress. We found that the most highly down-regulated genes in the biofilm were located on Salmonella Pathogenicity Island 2 (SPI2), but that a functional SPI2 secretion system regulator (ssrA) was required for WT biofilm formation. We identified STM0341 as a gene of unknown function that was needed for WT biofilm growth. Genes involved in tryptophan (trp) biosynthesis and transport were up-regulated in the biofilm. Deletion of trpE led to a decrease in bacterial attachment and we show that this biofilm defect is restored by exogenous tryptophan or indole. Conclusion: Biofilm growth of S. Typhimurium causes distinct changes in gene and protein expression. Our results show that aromatic amino acids make an important contribution to biofilm formation, and reveal that SPI2 genes, required for virulence in host cells, show opposing patterns of expression to biofilm-specific genes in S. Typhimurium. Overnight cultures of SL1344 grown in CFA broth were standardized to achieve an initial concentration of 10^6 CFU ml-1 and injected into a stirring influent flask containing 5 L of pre-warmed (25C) sterile CFA medium. The inoculated influent was then pumped through silicon tubing (5 mm internal diameter, Samco Silicon Products Ltd.) at 60 ml h-1 using a peristaltic pump (Minipulse 3, Gilson). The bacteria were allowed to flow through the closed system and either attach to a vertical piece of silicon tubing (1 meter length, 16 mm internal diameter, Samco Silicon Products Ltd.) or flow out into a waste reservoir. The tubing was positioned vertically to collect biofilm cells adherent to the tubing and minimise collecting bacteria that had simply sedimented. Possible backflow of media or bacteria into the influent from the silicon tubing was eliminated using media breaks. Samples taken to determine the pH of the medium or bacterial cell counts were removed via a media port located near the effluent and influent vessel, respectively. Planktonic cells were removed after 72 h of growth from the influent vessel to avoid any contamination with biofilm cells. The entire system was kept at a constant temperature of 25C and biofilm cells were isolated after 72 h of growth. All planktonic and biofilm samples were isolated from the same experimental system and used for both RNA and protein isolation. For this study, four biological replicates were performed at four different dates (Jun25, Jul5, Jul16, Oct11; as indicated in the sample title). For the dual-colour microarray hybridisations, we used Salmonella genomic DNA as the comparator which also acted as the control for spot quality. Individual labelled cDNA samples (RNA) were hybridised up to 4 times (technical replicates).

Project description:Biofilm formation is considered the most important factor involved in pathogenicity of Staphylococcus epidermidis.We investigated the role of two-component signal transduction system (TCS) srrAB, which was up-regulated under micro-aerobic condition, in the growth and biofilm formation of S. epidermidis.AsrrA-deficient mutant (M-bM-^HM-^FsrrA) derived from S. epidermidis1457 (SE1457), exhibited dramatic reduction in growth and biofilm formation underboth aerobic and micro-aerobic conditions, and more sensitive to several different types of antimicrobial agents, H2O2 and SDS. In New Zealand Rabbit model of S. epidermidis biofilm infection, M-bM-^HM-^FsrrA hardly formed biofilm compared to that of SE1457. Phenotypic alteration was restored to the wide-type levelwhen srrAB were complemented into M-bM-^HM-^FsrrA. Further study found that the initial adherence capacity and production of polysaccharide intercellular adhesion (PIA) in M-bM-^HM-^FsrrA were decreased, while extracellular DNA (eDNA) was increased. Transcriptional Analysisby qRT-PCR demonstrated that expression level of icaRin M-bM-^HM-^FsrrA was up-regulated compared to that of SE1457 under aerobic condition, while down-regulated under micro-aerobic condition;icaA and altE were down-regulated under both conditions. Expression of genes involved in respiratory metabolism, such as qoxB(quinol oxidase polypeptide II), ctaA(heme A synthase), and pfl(pyruvate formatelyase), etc. were down-regulated in M-bM-^HM-^FsrrAunder both conditions. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) revealed that phosphorylated SrrA bound to the promoter regions of icaR, icaA, atlE, qoxB,ctaA, andpflB just like binding its own promoter region srr. Taken together, our results demonstrate that srrAB may provide a mechanistic link between respiratory metabolism, environmental signals, and regulation of biofilm formation in S. epidermidis. Microarrays covering different S. epidermidis genomes were used to assess the impact of the two component system srrAB on growth and biofilm formation, by comparing WT with srrA mutant transcriptomes

Project description:Wastewater treatment plants use a variety of bioreactor types and configurations to remove organic matter and nutrients. Little is known regarding the effects of different configurations and within-plant immigration on microbial community dynamics. Previously, we found that the structure of ammonia-oxidizing bacterial (AOB) communities in a full-scale dispersed growth activated sludge bioreactor correlated strongly with levels of NO2- entering the reactor from an upstream trickling filter (Wells et al 2009). Here, to further examine this puzzling association, we profile within-plant microbial biogeography (spatial variation) and test the hypothesis that substantial microbial immigration occurs along a transect (raw influent, trickling filter biofilm, trickling filter effluent, and activated sludge) at the same full-scale wastewater treatment plant. AOB amoA gene abundance increased >30-fold between influent and trickling filter effluent concomitant with NO2- production, indicating unexpected growth and activity of AOB within the trickling filter. Nitrosomonas europaea was the dominant AOB phylotype in trickling filter biofilm and effluent, while a distinct ‘Nitrosomonas-like’ lineage dominated in activated sludge. Prior time series indicated that this ‘Nitrosomonas-like’ lineage was dominant when NO2- levels in the trickling filter effluent (i.e., activated sludge influent) were low, while N. europaea became dominant in the activated sludge when NO2- levels were high. This is consistent with the hypothesis that NO2- production may co-occur with biofilm sloughing, releasing N. europaea from the trickling filter into the activated sludge bioreactor. Phylogenetic microarray (PhyloChip) analyses revealed significant spatial variation in taxonomic diversity, including a large excess of methanogens in the trickling filter relative to activated sludge and attenuation of Enterobacteriaceae across the transect, and demonstrated transport of a highly diverse microbial community via the trickling filter effluent to the activated sludge bioreactor. Our results provide compelling evidence that substantial immigration between coupled process units occurs and may exert significant influence over microbial community dynamics within staged bioreactors.

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