The biofilm matrix consists of cellulose nanofibres, and is an emergent property dependent upon the type III secretion system and the cellulose synthesis operon Free

Abstract

is a plant-pathogenic bacterium that produces cellulose-containing biofilms, called pellicles, at the air–liquid interface of liquid cultures. pellicle formation appears to be an emergent property dependent upon at least three gene clusters, including cellulose synthesis, type III secretion system (T3SS) and flagellar genes. The cellulose synthesis operon is homologous to that of , which is used for industrial cellulose production, and the cellulose nanofibres produced by were similar in diameter and branching pattern to those produced by . , an enterobacterium closely related to , encodes a second type of cellulose synthesis operon, and it produced biofilm strands that differed in width and branching pattern from those of and . Unlike any previously described cellulose fibre, the cellulose nanofibres were decorated with bead-like structures. Mutation of the cellulose synthesis operon genes resulted in loss of cellulose synthesis and production of a cellulase-resistant biofilm. Mutation of other genes required for pellicle formation, including those encoding FliA (a sigma factor that regulates flagella production), HrpL (a sigma factor that regulates the T3SS), and AdrA, a GGDEF protein, affected both biofilm and cell morphology. Mutation of the cellulose synthase or of resulted in decreased accumulation of the T3SS-secreted protein HrpN.

Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • US Department of Agriculture
  • USDA (Award 2006-35319-17396)
  • USDA (Award WIS01072)
  • USDA (Award 2001-52100-11316)
  • National Science Foundation
  • NSF (Award 0412599)
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2011-10-01
2024-03-28
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