PMID:10629189
| Citation |
O'Toole, GA, Gibbs, KA, Hager, PW, Phibbs, PV Jr and Kolter, R (2000) The global carbon metabolism regulator Crc is a component of a signal transduction pathway required for biofilm development by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. J. Bacteriol. 182:425-31 |
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| Abstract |
The transition from a planktonic (free-swimming) existence to growth attached to a surface in a biofilm occurs in response to environmental factors, including the availability of nutrients. We show that the catabolite repression control (Crc) protein, which plays a role in the regulation of carbon metabolism, is necessary for biofilm formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Using phase-contrast microscopy, we found that a crc mutant only makes a dispersed monolayer of cells on a plastic surface but does not develop the dense monolayer punctuated by microcolonies typical of the wild-type strain. This is a phenotype identical to that observed in mutants defective in type IV pilus biogenesis. Consistent with this observation, crc mutants are defective in type IV pilus-mediated twitching motility. We show that this defect in type IV pilus function is due (at least in part) to a decrease in pilA (pilin) transcription. We propose that nutritional cues are integrated by Crc as part of a signal transduction pathway that regulates biofilm development. |
| Links | |
| Keywords |
Bacterial Proteins/metabolism; Biofilms; Carbon/metabolism; Mutation; Phenotype; Pseudomonas aeruginosa/metabolism; Repressor Proteins/genetics; Repressor Proteins/metabolism; Signal Transduction |
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