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Biofilm formation and cellulose expression among diverse environmental Pseudomonas isolates

Ude, Susanne; Arnold, Dawn L.; Moon, Christina D.; Timms-Wilson, Tracey; Spiers, Andrew J.

Authors

Susanne Ude

Dawn Arnold Dawn.Arnold@uwe.ac.uk
Professor in Molecular Plant Pathology

Christina D. Moon

Tracey Timms-Wilson

Andrew J. Spiers



Abstract

The ability to form biofilms is seen as an increasingly important colonization strategy among both pathogenic and environmental bacteria. A survey of 185 plant-associated, phytopathogenic, soil and river Pseudomonas isolates resulted in 76% producing biofilms at the air-liquid (A-L) interface after selection in static microcosms. Considerable variation in biofilm phenotype was observed, including waxy aggregations, viscous and floccular masses, and physically cohesive biofilms with continuously varying strengths over 1500-fold. Calcofluor epifluorescent microscopy identified cellulose as the matrix component in biofilms produced by Pseudomonas asplenii, Pseudomonas corrugata, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Pseudomonas marginalis, Pseudomonas putida, Pseudomonas savastanoi and Pseudomonas syringae isolates. Cellulose expression and biofilm formation could be induced by the constitutively active WspR19 mutant of the cyclic-di-GMP-associated, GGDEF domain-containing response regulator involved in the P. fluorescens SBW25 wrinkly spreader phenotype and cellular aggregation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA01. WspR19 could also induce P. putida KT2440, which otherwise did not produce a biofilm or express cellulose, as well as Escherichia coli K12 and Salmonella typhimurium LT2, both of which express cellulose yet lack WspR homologues. Statistical analysis of biofilm parameters suggest that biofilm development is a more complex process than that simply described by the production of attachment and matrix components and bacterial growth. This complexity was also seen in multivariate analysis as a species-ecological habitat effect, underscoring the fact that in vitro biofilms are abstractions of those surface and volume colonization processes used by bacteria in their natural environments. © 2006 The Authors.

Citation

Ude, S., Arnold, D. L., Moon, C. D., Timms-Wilson, T., & Spiers, A. J. (2006). Biofilm formation and cellulose expression among diverse environmental Pseudomonas isolates. Environmental Microbiology, 8(11), 1997-2011. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1462-2920.2006.01080.x

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Nov 1, 2006
Journal Environmental Microbiology
Print ISSN 1462-2912
Electronic ISSN 1462-2920
Publisher Wiley
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 8
Issue 11
Pages 1997-2011
DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1462-2920.2006.01080.x
Keywords biolfilm formation, cellulose expression
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1035994
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1462-2920.2006.01080.x
Additional Information Additional Information : Arnold screened the culture collection of plant pathogenic Pseudomonas for their ability to form biofilms under specific conditions, and the selected cultures formed the basis of the remaining project. She co-wrote the paper with Spiers.