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Microbiology Society logo Microbiology

Volume 156, Issue 8

Effect of arsenite on swimming motility delays surface colonization in Free

Abstract

is a Gram-negative bacterium able to detoxify arsenic-contaminated environments by oxidizing arsenite [As(III)] to arsenate [As(V)] and by scavenging arsenic ions in an extracellular matrix. Its motility and colonization behaviour have been previously suggested to be influenced by arsenite. Using time-course confocal laser scanning microscopy, we investigated its biofilm development in the absence and presence of arsenite. Arsenite was shown to delay biofilm initiation in the wild-type strain; this was partly explained by its toxicity, which caused an increased growth lag time. However, this delayed adhesion step in the presence of arsenite was not observed in either a swimming motility defective mutant or an arsenite oxidase defective mutant; both strains displayed the wild-type surface properties and growth capacities. We propose that during the biofilm formation process arsenite acts on swimming motility as a result of the arsenite oxidase activity, preventing the switch between planktonic and sessile lifestyles. Our study therefore highlights the existence, under arsenite exposure, of a competition between swimming motility, resulting from arsenite oxidation, and biofilm initiation.

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Keyword(s): CLSM, confocal laser scanning microscopy
SGM
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/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.039313-0
2010-08-01
2025-04-26
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Effect of arsenite on swimming motility delays surface colonization in Herminiimonas arsenicoxydans
Microbiology 156, 2336 (2010); https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.039313-0
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.039313-0
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.039313-0
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