JB
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
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 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 Lim, Y.
Right arrow Articles by Lee, C. Y.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Lim, Y.
Right arrow Articles by Lee, C. Y.
Journal of Bacteriology, February 2004, p. 722-729, Vol. 186, No. 3
0021-9193/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.186.3.722-729.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Control of Glucose- and NaCl-Induced Biofilm Formation by rbf in Staphylococcus aureus

Yong Lim,{dagger} Malabendu Jana,{ddagger} Thanh T. Luong, and Chia Y. Lee*

Department of Microbiology, Molecular Genetics, and Immunology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas 66160

Received 21 August 2003/ Accepted 27 October 2003

Both Staphylococcus aureus and S. epidermidis are capable of forming biofilm on biomaterials. We used Tn917 mutagenesis to identify a gene, rbf, affecting biofilm formation in S. aureus NCTC8325-4. Sequencing revealed that Rbf contained a consensus region signature of the AraC/XylS family of regulators, suggesting that Rbf is a transcriptional regulator. Insertional duplication inactivation of the rbf gene confirmed that the gene was involved in biofilm formation on polystyrene and glass. Phenotypic analysis of the wild type and the mutant suggested that the rbf gene mediates the biofilm formation of S. aureus at the multicellular aggregation stage rather than at initial attachment. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis demonstrated that the mutation resulted in the loss of an ~190-kDa protein. Biofilm production by the mutant could be restored by complementation with a 2.5-kb DNA fragment containing the rbf gene. The rbf-specific mutation affected the induction of biofilm formation by glucose and a high concentration of NaCl but not by ethanol. The mutation did not affect the transcription of the ica genes previously shown to be required for biofilm formation. Taken together, our results suggest that the rbf gene is involved in the regulation of the multicellular aggregation step of S. aureus biofilm formation in response to glucose and salt and that this regulation may be mediated through the 190-kDa protein.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology, Molecular Genetics, and Immunology, Room 3025, WHW, University of Kansas Medical Center, 3901 Rainbow Blvd., Kansas City, KS 66160. Phone: (913) 588-7156. Fax: (913) 588-7295. E-mail: clee{at}kumc.edu.

{dagger} Present address: Department of Microbiology, Chosun University Medical School, Gwangju 501-759, Republic of Korea.

{ddagger} Present address: Department of Oral Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Lincoln, NE 68583.

Journal of Bacteriology, February 2004, p. 722-729, Vol. 186, No. 3
0021-9193/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.186.3.722-729.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
Appl. Environ. Microbiol. Infect. Immun. Eukaryot. Cell
Mol. Cell. Biol. J. Virol. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev.
ALL ASM JOURNALS

Copyright © 2004 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.