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 Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Ymele-Leki, P.
Right arrow Articles by Ross, J. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Ymele-Leki, P.
Right arrow Articles by Ross, J. M.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Ymele-Leki, P.
Right arrow Articles by Ross, J. M.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, March 2007, p. 1834-1841, Vol. 73, No. 6
0099-2240/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01319-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Erosion from Staphylococcus aureus Biofilms Grown under Physiologically Relevant Fluid Shear Forces Yields Bacterial Cells with Reduced Avidity to Collagen{triangledown}

Patrick Ymele-Leki and Julia M. Ross*

Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, Maryland

Received 8 June 2006/ Accepted 21 January 2007

An estimated 65% of infective diseases are associated with the presence of bacterial biofilms. Biofilm-issued planktonic cells promote blood-borne, secondary sites of infection by the inoculation of the infected sites with bacteria from the intravascular space. To investigate the potential role of early detachment events in initiating secondary infections, we studied the phenotypic attributes of Staphylococcus aureus planktonic cells eroding from biofilms with respect to expression of the collagen adhesin, CNA. The collagen-binding abilities of S. aureus have been correlated to the development of osteomyelitis and septic arthritis. In this study, we focused on the impact of CNA expression on S. aureus adhesion to immobilized collagen in vitro under physiologically relevant shear forces. In contrast to the growth phase-dependent adhesion properties characteristic of S. aureus cells grown in suspension, eroding planktonic cells expressed invariant and lower effective adhesion rates regardless of the age of the biofilm from which they originated. These results correlated directly with the surface expression level of CNA. However, subsequent analysis revealed no qualitative differences between biofilms initiated with suspension cells and secondary biofilms initiated with biofilm-shed planktonic cells. Taken together, our findings suggest that, despite their low levels of CNA expression, S. aureus planktonic cells shed from biofilms retain the capacity for metastatic spread and the initiation of secondary infection. These findings demonstrate the need for a better understanding of the phenotypic properties of eroding planktonic cells, which could lead to new therapeutic strategies to target secondary infections.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, University of Maryland Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250. Phone: (410) 455-3414. Fax: (410) 455-1049. E-mail: jross{at}umbc.edu.

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 2 February 2007.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, March 2007, p. 1834-1841, Vol. 73, No. 6
0099-2240/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01319-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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