Gene expression in Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms

Marvin Whiteley, M. Gita Bangera, Roger E. Bumgarner, Matthew R. Parsek, Gail M. Teitzel, Stephen Lory and E. P. Greenberg ()
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Marvin Whiteley: University of Iowa College of Medicine
M. Gita Bangera: Harvard University
Roger E. Bumgarner: University of Washington
Matthew R. Parsek: Northwestern University
Gail M. Teitzel: Northwestern University
Stephen Lory: Harvard University
E. P. Greenberg: University of Iowa College of Medicine

Nature, 2001, vol. 413, issue 6858, 860-864

Abstract: Abstract Bacteria often adopt a sessile biofilm lifestyle that is resistant to antimicrobial treatment1,2,3,4,5. Opportunistic pathogenic bacteria like Pseudomonas aeruginosa can develop persistent infections1,2,3. To gain insights into the differences between free-living P. aeruginosa cells and those in biofilms, and into the mechanisms underlying the resistance of biofilms to antibiotics, we used DNA microarrays. Here we show that, despite the striking differences in lifestyles, only about 1% of genes showed differential expression in the two growth modes; about 0.5% of genes were activated and about 0.5% were repressed in biofilms. Some of the regulated genes are known to affect antibiotic sensitivity of free-living P. aeruginosa. Exposure of biofilms to high levels of the antibiotic tobramycin caused differential expression of 20 genes. We propose that this response is critical for the development of biofilm resistance to tobramycin. Our results show that gene expression in biofilm cells is similar to that in free-living cells but there are a small number of significant differences. Our identification of biofilm-regulated genes points to mechanisms of biofilm resistance to antibiotics.

Date: 2001
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DOI: 10.1038/35101627

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