Abh regulation of biofilm formation by Bacillus subtilis

Abh 枯草芽孢杆菌对生物膜形成的调节

• 批准号: BB/E014631/1
• 负责人: Nicola Stanley-Wall
• 金额: $ 32.7万
• 依托单位: University of Dundee
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2007 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FE014631%2F1
• 关键词: Abh; regulation; biofilm; formation; Bacillus

A biofilm can be defined as a community of bacteria that live together. In a biofilm bacteria adhere to a surface and coat themselves in a protective layer of sugars and proteins. Common examples of where biofilms can be found include dental plaque, endocarditis, which is a chronic infection of a heart valve, and catheter infections. Bacteria living in biofilms are difficult to treat in humans as they are highly resistant to many antibiotics and other antimicrobial agents. It appears that bacteria living in a biofilm 'club' together and protect each other. We are interested in understanding how bacteria coordinate and come together to form a biofilm. Information about this process should help us to understand the mechanisms that bacteria use to associate together in a community. We study the process of biofilm formation using a bacterium called Bacillus subtilis. This bacterium is commonly used as a model to understand basic processes regarding gene regulation and expression in bacteria from which fundamental principles about the regulatory mechanisms used can be drawn and applied to other bacteria. In our study a mutant strain of B. subtilis that is unable to form mature biofilms that recently been identified will be utilised. This strain can attach to a surface at the beginning stages of biofilm formation but cannot develop properly into a mature biofilm structure. We plan to investigate why the mutant is defective in forming biofilms by identifying which components are missing from the mutant that are essential for biofilm formation. We will look at the behaviour of the bacteria in the biofilm community at both the single-cell and population level in order to be able to generate a full picture of the regulation during the transition process from planktonic cells to a biofilm. Understanding how biofilms are formed by B. subtilis could help us to understand how other medically important bacteria form biofilms with the long-term goal of helping to prevent or eradicate biofilm infections.

生物膜可以被定义为生活在一起的细菌群落。在生物膜中，细菌附着在表面，并将自己包裹在糖和蛋白质的保护层中。常见的生物被膜的例子包括牙菌斑、心内膜炎，这是心脏瓣膜的一种慢性感染，以及导管感染。生活在生物膜中的细菌在人类身上很难治疗，因为它们对许多抗生素和其他抗菌剂具有高度耐药性。似乎细菌生活在一个生物膜‘俱乐部’中，并相互保护。我们有兴趣了解细菌是如何协调并聚集在一起形成生物膜的。关于这一过程的信息应该有助于我们理解细菌在群落中相互联系的机制。我们使用一种名为枯草芽孢杆菌的细菌研究生物膜的形成过程。这种细菌通常被用作了解细菌中基因调控和表达的基本过程的模型，从中可以得出有关所用调控机制的基本原理，并将其应用于其他细菌。在我们的研究中，一种不能形成最近被鉴定的成熟生物膜的枯草杆菌突变株将被利用。该菌株可以在生物膜形成的开始阶段附着在表面，但不能正确地发育成成熟的生物膜结构。我们计划通过确定突变体中缺失了哪些对生物膜形成至关重要的成分来调查突变体在形成生物膜方面存在缺陷的原因。我们将在单细胞和种群水平上研究生物膜群落中细菌的行为，以便能够全面了解从浮游细胞向生物膜过渡过程中的调控。了解枯草杆菌是如何形成生物膜的，可以帮助我们了解其他医学上重要的细菌是如何形成生物膜的，长期目标是帮助预防或根除生物膜感染。