biofilm
- Research Article | Therapeutics and PreventionProteomic and Systematic Functional Profiling Unveils Citral Targeting Antibiotic Resistance, Antioxidant Defense, and Biofilm-Associated Two-Component Systems of Acinetobacter baumannii To Encumber Biofilm and Virulence Traits
Acinetobacter baumannii is a nosocomial-infection-causing bacterium and also possesses multidrug resistance to a wide range of conventional antibiotics. The biofilm-forming ability of A. baumannii plays a major role in its resistance and persistence. There is an alarming need for novel treatment...
- Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceSize Shapes the Active Microbiome of Methanogenic Granules, Corroborating a Biofilm Life Cycle
Biological wastewater conversion processes collectively constitute one of the single biggest worldwide applications of microbial communities. There is an obvious requirement, therefore, to study the microbial systems central to the success of such technologies. Methanogenic granules, in particular, are architecturally fascinating biofilms that facilitate highly organized cooperation within the metabolic network of the anaerobic...
- Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyNegative Interplay between Biofilm Formation and Competence in the Environmental Strains of Bacillus subtilis
The soil bacterium Bacillus subtilis can form robust biofilms, which are important for its survival in the environment. B. subtilis also exhibits natural competence. By investigating competence development in B. subtilis in...
- Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary SciencePrivatization of Biofilm Matrix in Structurally Heterogeneous Biofilms
Biofilms are communities of bacteria protected by a self-produced extracellular matrix. The detrimental effects of nonproducing individuals on biofilm development raise questions about the dynamics between community members, especially when isogenic nonproducers exist within wild-type populations. We asked ourselves whether phenotypic nonproducers impact biofilm robustness, and where and when this heterogeneity of matrix gene expression...
- Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceBiofilm Structure Promotes Coexistence of Phage-Resistant and Phage-Susceptible Bacteria
In the natural environment, bacteria most often live in communities bound to one another by secreted adhesives. These communities, or biofilms, play a central role in biogeochemical cycling, microbiome functioning, wastewater treatment, and disease. Wherever there are bacteria, there are also viruses that attack them, called phages. Interactions between bacteria and phages are likely to occur ubiquitously in biofilms. We show here,...
- Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyHuman Colon Mucosal Biofilms and Murine Host Communicate via Altered mRNA and microRNA Expression during Cancer
Bacteria and bacterial biofilms have been implicated in colorectal cancer (CRC), but it is still unclear what genes these microbial communities express and how they influence the host. MicroRNAs regulate host gene expression and have been explored as potential biomarkers for CRC. An emerging area of research is the ability of microRNAs to impact growth and gene expression of members of the intestinal microbiota. This study examined the...
- Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyDifferential Gene Expression Patterns of Yersinia pestis and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis during Infection and Biofilm Formation in the Flea Digestive Tract
Y. pestis emerged as a highly virulent, arthropod-transmitted pathogen on the basis of relatively few and discrete genetic changes from Y. pseudotuberculosis. Parallel comparisons of the in vitro and in vivo transcriptomes of...
- Editor's Pick Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceLong-Term Evolution of Burkholderia multivorans during a Chronic Cystic Fibrosis Infection Reveals Shifting Forces of Selection
Bacteria may become genetically and phenotypically diverse during long-term colonization of cystic fibrosis (CF) patient lungs, yet our understanding of within-host evolutionary processes during these infections is lacking. Here we combined current genome sequencing technologies and detailed phenotypic profiling of the opportunistic pathogen Burkholderia multivorans...