The prevalence and origin of exoprotease-producing cells in the Bacillus subtilis biofilm.
Microbiology (Reading)
; 160(Pt 1): 56-66, 2014 Jan.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-24149708
ABSTRACT
Biofilm formation by the Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis is tightly controlled at the level of transcription. The biofilm contains specialized cell types that arise from controlled differentiation of the resident isogenic bacteria. DegU is a response regulator that controls several social behaviours exhibited by B. subtilis including swarming motility, biofilm formation and extracellular protease (exoprotease) production. Here, for the first time, we examine the prevalence and origin of exoprotease-producing cells within the biofilm. This was accomplished using single-cell analysis techniques including flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy. We established that the number of exoprotease-producing cells increases as the biofilm matures. This is reflected by both an increase at the level of transcription and an increase in exoprotease activity over time. We go on to demonstrate that exoprotease-producing cells arise from more than one cell type, namely matrix-producing and non-matrix-producing cells. In toto these findings allow us to add exoprotease-producing cells to the list of specialized cell types that are derived during B. subtilis biofilm formation and furthermore the data highlight the plasticity in the origin of differentiated cells.
Texto completo:
1
Bases de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Bacillus subtilis
/
Biofilmes
/
Exopeptidases
Tipo de estudo:
Prevalence_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Microbiology (Reading)
Assunto da revista:
MICROBIOLOGIA
Ano de publicação:
2014
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Reino Unido