This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Yan, L.
Right arrow Articles by Burgess, J. G.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Yan, L.
Right arrow Articles by Burgess, J. G.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Yan, L.
Right arrow Articles by Burgess, J. G.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, July 2003, p. 3719-3727, Vol. 69, No. 7
0099-2240/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.7.3719-3727.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Biofilm-Specific Cross-Species Induction of Antimicrobial Compounds in Bacilli

Liming Yan,1 Kenneth G. Boyd,1,{dagger} David R. Adams,2 and J. Grant Burgess1*

Centre for Marine Biodiversity and Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences,1 Department of Chemistry, School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Riccarton, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, United Kingdom2

Received 16 October 2002/ Accepted 2 April 2003

An air-membrane surface (AMS) bioreactor was designed to allow bacteria to grow attached to a surface as a biofilm in contact with air. When Bacillus licheniformis strain EI-34-6, isolated from the surface of a marine alga, was grown in this reactor, cells produced antimicrobial compounds which they did not produce when they were grown in shake flask cultures. An unidentified red pigment was also produced by surface-grown cells but not by planktonically grown cells. Glycerol and ferric iron were important for the production of antimicrobial compounds and the red pigment. Release of these secondary metabolites was not due to the onset of sporulation. Cell-free spent medium recovered from beneath the reactor membrane could induce production of antimicrobial compounds and red pigment in shake flask cultures. Neither glycerol nor ferric iron was required for production of these inducer compounds. Spent medium from beneath the membrane of an AMS bioreactor culture of Bacillus subtilis strain DSM10T and Bacillus pumilus strain EI-25-8 could also induce production of antimicrobial compounds and a red pigment in B. licheniformis isolate EI-34-6 grown in shake flask cultures; however, the corresponding spent medium from shake flask cultures of DSM10T and EI-25-8 could not. These results suggest that there is a biofilm-specific cross-species signaling system which can induce planktonically grown cells to behave as if they were in a biofilm by regulating the expression of pigments and antimicrobial compounds.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Centre for Marine Biodiversity and Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Riccarton, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, United Kingdom. Phone: 44-131-451-3187. Fax: 44-131-451-3009. E-mail: j.g.burgess{at}hw.ac.uk.

{dagger} Present address: Environmental Research Institute, Thurso KW14 7JD, United Kingdom.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, July 2003, p. 3719-3727, Vol. 69, No. 7
0099-2240/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.7.3719-3727.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Narisawa, N., Haruta, S., Arai, H., Ishii, M., Igarashi, Y. (2008). Coexistence of Antibiotic-Producing and Antibiotic-Sensitive Bacteria in Biofilms Is Mediated by Resistant Bacteria. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 3887-3894 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Huang, Y.-L., Dobretsov, S., Xiong, H., Qian, P.-Y. (2007). Effect of Biofilm Formation by Pseudoalteromonas spongiae on Induction of Larval Settlement of the Polychaete Hydroides elegans. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 6284-6288 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Rao, D., Webb, J. S., Kjelleberg, S. (2005). Competitive Interactions in Mixed-Species Biofilms Containing the Marine Bacterium Pseudoalteromonas tunicata. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 1729-1736 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Pysz, M. A., Conners, S. B., Montero, C. I., Shockley, K. R., Johnson, M. R., Ward, D. E., Kelly, R. M. (2004). Transcriptional Analysis of Biofilm Formation Processes in the Anaerobic, Hyperthermophilic Bacterium Thermotoga maritima. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70: 6098-6112 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»