Cell-surface interactions of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 - role of eDNA and nucleolytic activity

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Dissimilatory iron-reducing bacteria play a critical role in cycling iron oxides and associated metal/organic contaminants in anoxic sedimentary environments. In nature, reduction of insoluble metal-containing minerals occurs through direct metabolic interaction, mediated by the formation of microbial biofilms at the substrate surface. The molecular mechanisms underlying the initiation of microbe-surface interactions and the onset of a bacterial life style switch are not well understood. The proposed study on the model-organism for dissimilatory iron reduction, Shewanella oneidensis MR-1, will use global transcriptomic and proteomic profiling to identify gene patterns differentially regulated on adhesion to metabolically inert or accessible surfaces. These will then be used to create fluorescent and lacZ-based reporter systems in order to microscopically monitor cellular activities following surface adhesion and to track down underlying regulatory events and environmental stimuli. In parallel a regulatory system will be studied in more detail that was identified independently by preliminary transcriptomic analysis and transposon mutagenesis to be involved in that process. The approach will yield novel insights into the initiation of metabolic and non-metabolic microbe-surface interaction.