Project description:Flavobacterium columnare, the causative agent of columnaris disease causes substantial mortality worldwide in numerous freshwater finfish species. Due to its global significance and impact on the aquaculture industry continual efforts to better understand basic mechanisms that contribute to disease are urgently needed. F. columnare naturally occurs in a planktonic, free living state where it can survive for long periods of time, even in the absence of nutrients. In contrast, F. columnare also possesses the ability to form biofilms, broadly defined as surface bound microbial communities inhabiting an organic matrix composed of autogenously derived extracellular polymeric substances. The advantages of adopting this life stage are not completely clear for F. columnare, but biofilm formation could increase virulence by offering protection from desiccation, augment resistance to antimicrobials, improve nutrient acquisition, and protection against other bacteria. To examine gene expression between F. columnare planktonic cells and biofilms, we conducted a study where both phases were grown with and without stimulation and then sampled for RNA sequencing.
Project description:Clinical Flavobacterium columnare ATCC 49512 was grown on Flavobacterium columnare growth medium (FCGM). Bacteria from four colonies at mid-exponential phase were harvested, total proteins were isolated, and identified using 2-DE MALDI TOF/TOF MS and 2-D LC ESI MS/MS analyses. The MS/MS spectra for all peptides were analyzed using sequest algorithm