TY - JOUR

T1 - A transposon mutant library of Bacillus cereus ATCC 10987 reveals novel genes required for biofilm formation and implicates motility as an important factor for pellicle-biofilm formation

AU - Okshevsky, Mira

AU - Louw, Matilde Greve

AU - Lamela, Elena Otero

AU - Nilsson, Martin

AU - Tolker-Nielsen, Tim

AU - Meyer, Rikke Louise

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - Bacillus cereus is one of the most common opportunistic pathogens causing foodborne illness, as well as a common source of contamination in the dairy industry. B. cereus can form robust biofilms on food processing surfaces, resulting in food contamination due to shedding of cells and spores. Despite the medical and industrial relevance of this species, the genetic basis of biofilm formation in B. cereus is not well studied. In order to identify genes required for biofilm formation in this bacterium, we created a library of 5000 + transposon mutants of the biofilm-forming strain B. cereusATCC 10987, using an unbiased mariner transposon approach. The mutant library was screened for the ability to form a pellicle biofilm at the air-media interface, as well as a submerged biofilm at the solid-media interface. A total of 91 genes were identified as essential for biofilm formation. These genes encode functions such as chemotaxis, amino acid metabolism and cellular repair mechanisms, and include numerous genes not previously known to be required for biofilm formation. Although the majority of disrupted genes are not directly responsible for motility, further investigations revealed that the vast majority of the biofilm-deficient mutants were also motility impaired. This observation implicates motility as a pivotal factor in the formation of a biofilm by B. cereus. These results expand our knowledge of the fundamental molecular mechanisms of biofilm formation by B. cereus.

AB - Bacillus cereus is one of the most common opportunistic pathogens causing foodborne illness, as well as a common source of contamination in the dairy industry. B. cereus can form robust biofilms on food processing surfaces, resulting in food contamination due to shedding of cells and spores. Despite the medical and industrial relevance of this species, the genetic basis of biofilm formation in B. cereus is not well studied. In order to identify genes required for biofilm formation in this bacterium, we created a library of 5000 + transposon mutants of the biofilm-forming strain B. cereusATCC 10987, using an unbiased mariner transposon approach. The mutant library was screened for the ability to form a pellicle biofilm at the air-media interface, as well as a submerged biofilm at the solid-media interface. A total of 91 genes were identified as essential for biofilm formation. These genes encode functions such as chemotaxis, amino acid metabolism and cellular repair mechanisms, and include numerous genes not previously known to be required for biofilm formation. Although the majority of disrupted genes are not directly responsible for motility, further investigations revealed that the vast majority of the biofilm-deficient mutants were also motility impaired. This observation implicates motility as a pivotal factor in the formation of a biofilm by B. cereus. These results expand our knowledge of the fundamental molecular mechanisms of biofilm formation by B. cereus.

KW - Bacillus cereus

KW - Biofilm

KW - Biofilm extracellular matrix

KW - dlt operon

KW - Motility

U2 - 10.1002/mbo3.552

DO - 10.1002/mbo3.552

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 29164822

AN - SCOPUS:85034786508

VL - 7

JO - MicrobiologyOpen

JF - MicrobiologyOpen

SN - 2045-8827

IS - 2

M1 - e00552

ER -