Extracellular Matrix of Bacillus subtilis Biofilms

描述（由申请人提供）：现在人们普遍认为细菌具有广泛的形成表面相关多细胞聚集体的能力，通常被称为“生物膜”。当生物，无论是真核生物还是原核生物，从单细胞生物过渡到多细胞生物时，它们产生细胞外基质，提供结构支持并促进表面附着。在生物膜内，组成细胞嵌入由不同的细胞外聚合物质组成的基质中。虽然生物膜的形成过程似乎依赖于细胞外基质的形成，但这些出口产品的含量、调节和确切功能在很大程度上仍然未知。对枯草芽孢杆菌基因组的分析显示存在一组基因，即yve基因，其产物被预测参与可能的细胞外多糖的生物合成。在实验上，我将重点描述yve操纵子时空调控的分子机制，并将确定枯草芽孢杆菌生物膜中基质生产的其他基因。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): It is now widely recognized that bacteria have the widespread capacity to form surface-associated multicellular aggregates, commonly refered to as "biofilms". When organisms, be it eukaryotes or prokaryotes, transition from unicellularity to multicellularity they produce an extracellular matrix that provides structural support and facilitates surface attachment. Within biofilms the constituent cells are embedded in matrices composed of diverse extracellular polymeric substances. Although the process of biofilm formation appears to be dependent upon the formation of an extracellular matrix, the content, regulation and precise function of these exported products are still largely unknown. Analysis of the B. subtilis genome revealed the presence of a cluster of genes, the yve genes, whose products are predicted to be involved in the biosynthesis of a possible extracellular polysaccharide. Experimentally, I will focus on characterizing the molecular mechanism of the spatio-temporal regulation of the yve operon and I will identify additional genes involved in matrix production in Bacillus subtilis biofilms.