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Importance ofeps genes fromBacillus subtilis in biofilm formation and swarming

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Abstract

Unicellular organisms naturally form multicellular communities, differentiate into specialized cells, and synchronize their behaviour under certain conditions. Swarming, defined as a movement of a large mass of bacteria on solid surfaces, is recognized as a preliminary step in the formation of biofilms. The main aim of this work was to study the role of a group of genes involved in exopolysaccharide biosynthesis during pellicle formation and swarming inBacillus subtilis strain 168. To assess the role of particular proteins encoded by the group ofepsI-epsO genes that form theeps operon, we constructed a series of insertional mutants. The results obtained showed that mutations inepsJ-epsN, but not in the last gene of theeps operon (epsO), have a severe effect on pellicle formation under all tested conditions. Moreover, the inactivation of 5 out of the 6 genes analysed caused total inhibition of swarming in strain 168 (that does not produce surfactin) on LB medium. Following restoration of thesfp gene (required for production of surfactin, which is essential for swarming of the wild-type bacteria), thesfp + strains defective ineps genes (exceptepsO) generated significantly different patterns during swarming on synthetic B medium, as compared to the parental strain 168sfp +.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Molecular Bacteriology, Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology, Medical University of Gdańsk, Debinki 1, 80-211, Gdansk, Poland

    K. Nagórska, A. Ostrowski, K. Hinc & M. Obuchowski

  2. Institut de Génétique et Microbiologie, CNRS 8621, Université Paris-Sud, Orsay cedex, France

    I. B. Holland

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  1. K. Nagórska
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  2. A. Ostrowski
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  3. K. Hinc
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  4. I. B. Holland
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  5. M. Obuchowski
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Nagórska, K., Ostrowski, A., Hinc, K. et al. Importance ofeps genes fromBacillus subtilis in biofilm formation and swarming. J Appl Genet 51, 369–381 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03208867

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03208867

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