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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, November 2009, p. 6783-6791, Vol. 75, No. 21
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00974-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Conjugative Plasmid Transfer and Adhesion Dynamics in an Escherichia coli Biofilm{triangledown} ,{dagger}

Cheryl-Lynn Y. Ong, Scott A. Beatson, Alastair G. McEwan, and Mark A. Schembri*

School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia

Received 29 April 2009/ Accepted 22 August 2009

A conjugative plasmid from the catheter-associated urinary tract infection strain Escherichia coli MS2027 was sequenced and annotated. This 42,644-bp plasmid, designated pMAS2027, contains 58 putative genes and is most closely related to plasmids belonging to incompatibility group X (IncX1). Plasmid pMAS2027 encodes two important virulence factors: type 3 fimbriae and a type IV secretion (T4S) system. Type 3 fimbriae, recently found to be functionally expressed in E. coli, played an important role in biofilm formation. Biofilm formation by E. coli MS2027 was specifically due to expression of type 3 fimbriae and not the T4S system. The T4S system, however, accounted for the conjugative ability of pMAS2027 and enabled a non-biofilm-forming strain to grow as part of a mixed biofilm following acquisition of this plasmid. Thus, the importance of conjugation as a mechanism to spread biofilm determinants was demonstrated. Conjugation may represent an important mechanism by which type 3 fimbria genes are transferred among the Enterobacteriaceae that cause device-related infections in nosocomial settings.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia. Phone: 61 7 3365 3306. Fax: 61 7 3365 4699. E-mail: m.schembri{at}uq.edu.au

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 28 August 2009.

{dagger} Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://aem.asm.org/.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, November 2009, p. 6783-6791, Vol. 75, No. 21
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00974-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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