1887

Abstract

The atypical bacterial pathogen is a leading etiological agent of community-acquired pneumonia in humans; infections are often recalcitrant, recurrent and resistant to antibiotic treatment. These characteristics suggest a mechanism that facilitates long-term colonization in hosts. In an setting, forms biofilms that are unusual in that motility plays no more than a very limited role in their formation and development. Given the unusual nature of biofilms, open questions remain concerning phenotypes associated with persistence, such as what properties might favour the bacteria while minimizing host damage. also produces several cytotoxic molecules including community-acquired respiratory distress syndrome (CARDS) toxin, HS and HO, but how it deploys these agents during growth is unknown. Whereas several biochemical techniques for biofilm disruption were ineffective, sonication was required for disruption of biofilms to generate individual cells for comparative studies, suggesting unusual physical properties likely related to the atypical cell envelope. Nonetheless, like for other bacteria, biofilms were less susceptible to antibiotic inhibition and complement killing than dispersed cells, with resistance increasing as the biofilms matured. CARDS toxin levels and enzymatic activities associated with HS and HO production were highest during early biofilm formation and decreased over time, suggesting attenuation of virulence in connection with chronic infection. Collectively, these findings result in a model of how biofilms contribute to both the establishment and propagation of infections, and how both biofilm towers and individual cells participate in persistence and chronic disease.

Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • Miami University (US) (Award DUOS)
    • Principle Award Recipient: Monica Feng
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2020-05-18
2024-12-09
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