TY - JOUR
T1 - Norspermidine is not a self-produced trigger for biofilm disassembly
AU - Hobley, Laura
AU - Kim, Sok Ho
AU - Maezato, Yukari
AU - Wyllie, Susan
AU - Fairlamb, Alan H.
AU - Stanley-Wall, Nicola R.
AU - Michael, Anthony J.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank David Mangelsdorf for helpful discussions and http://www.sarahjcgillespie.com for design work on the graphical abstract. This work was supported by grant BB/I019464/1 from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, UK (to N.R.S.-W.), by grant 079838 from the Wellcome Trust (to A.H.F.), and by a High Impact/High Risk Award from UT Southwestern Medical Center (to A.J.M.). Genome sequencing and analysis were performed at the Genomic Sequencing Unit, University of Dundee, which is funded by the Wellcome Trust Strategic Grant (098439/Z/12/(Z)). We thank Prof. Richard Losick for providing strain NCIB3610-H.
PY - 2014/2/13
Y1 - 2014/2/13
N2 - Formation of Bacillus subtilis biofilms, consisting of cells encapsulated within an extracellular matrix of exopolysaccharide and protein, requires the polyamine spermidine. A recent study reported that (1) related polyamine norspermidine is synthesized by B. subtilis using the equivalent of the Vibrio cholerae biosynthetic pathway, (2) exogenous norspermidine at 25 μM prevents B. subtilis biofilm formation, (3) endogenous norspermidine is present in biofilms at 50-80 μM, and (4) norspermidine prevents biofilm formation by condensing biofilm exopolysaccharide. In contrast, we find that, at concentrations up to 200 μM, exogenous norspermidine promotes biofilm formation. We find that norspermidine is absent in wild-type B. subtilis biofilms at all stages, and higher concentrations of exogenous norspermidine eventually inhibit planktonic growth and biofilm formation in an exopolysaccharide-independent manner. Moreover, orthologs of the V. cholerae norspermidine biosynthetic pathway are absent from B. subtilis, confirming that norspermidine is not physiologically relevant to biofilm function in this species.
AB - Formation of Bacillus subtilis biofilms, consisting of cells encapsulated within an extracellular matrix of exopolysaccharide and protein, requires the polyamine spermidine. A recent study reported that (1) related polyamine norspermidine is synthesized by B. subtilis using the equivalent of the Vibrio cholerae biosynthetic pathway, (2) exogenous norspermidine at 25 μM prevents B. subtilis biofilm formation, (3) endogenous norspermidine is present in biofilms at 50-80 μM, and (4) norspermidine prevents biofilm formation by condensing biofilm exopolysaccharide. In contrast, we find that, at concentrations up to 200 μM, exogenous norspermidine promotes biofilm formation. We find that norspermidine is absent in wild-type B. subtilis biofilms at all stages, and higher concentrations of exogenous norspermidine eventually inhibit planktonic growth and biofilm formation in an exopolysaccharide-independent manner. Moreover, orthologs of the V. cholerae norspermidine biosynthetic pathway are absent from B. subtilis, confirming that norspermidine is not physiologically relevant to biofilm function in this species.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.cell.2014.01.012
DO - 10.1016/j.cell.2014.01.012
M3 - Article
C2 - 24529384
AN - SCOPUS:84894216936
SN - 0092-8674
VL - 156
SP - 844
EP - 854
JO - Cell
JF - Cell
IS - 4
ER -