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Journal of Bacteriology, February 2007, p. 750-760, Vol. 189, No. 3
0021-9193/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.00953-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Role of a Putative Polysaccharide Locus in Bordetella Biofilm Development

Program in Molecular Genetics,¹ Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Medical Center Blvd., Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157,² Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia³

Received 30 June 2006/ Accepted 6 November 2006

Bordetellae are gram-negative bacteria that colonize the respiratory tracts of animals and humans. We and others have recently shown that these bacteria are capable of living as sessile communities known as biofilms on a number of abiotic surfaces. During the biofilm mode of existence, bacteria produce one or more extracellular polymeric substances that function, in part, to hold the cells together and to a surface. There is little information on either the constituents of the biofilm matrix or the genetic basis of biofilm development by Bordetella spp. By utilizing immunoblot assays and by enzymatic hydrolysis using dispersin B (DspB), a glycosyl hydrolase that specifically cleaves the polysaccharide poly-ß-1,6-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (poly-ß-1,6-GlcNAc), we provide evidence for the production of poly-ß-1,6-GlcNAc by various Bordetella species (Bordetella bronchiseptica, B. pertussis, and B. parapertussis) and its role in their biofilm development. We have investigated the role of a Bordetella locus, here designated bpsABCD, in biofilm formation. The bps (Bordetella polysaccharide) locus is homologous to several bacterial loci that are required for the production of poly-ß-1,6-GlcNAc and have been implicated in bacterial biofilm formation. By utilizing multiple microscopic techniques to analyze biofilm formation under both static and hydrodynamic conditions, we demonstrate that the bps locus, although not essential at the initial stages of biofilm formation, contributes to the stability and the maintenance of the complex architecture of Bordetella biofilms.

Published ahead of print on 17 November 2006.

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