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Journal of Bacteriology, June 2007, p. 4418-4424, Vol. 189, No. 12
0021-9193/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.01967-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Flagellar Motility Is Critical for Listeria monocytogenes Biofilm Formation{triangledown}

Katherine P. Lemon,1 Darren E. Higgins,2 and Roberto Kolter2*

Division of Infectious Diseases, Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115,1 Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 021152

Received 29 December 2006/ Accepted 20 March 2007

The food-borne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes attaches to environmental surfaces and forms biofilms that can be a source of food contamination, yet little is known about the molecular mechanisms of its biofilm development. We observed that nonmotile mutants were defective in biofilm formation. To investigate how flagella might function during biofilm formation, we compared the wild type with flagellum-minus and paralyzed-flagellum mutants. Both nonmotile mutants were defective in biofilm development, presumably at an early stage, as they were also defective in attachment to glass during the first few hours of surface exposure. This attachment defect could be significantly overcome by providing exogenous movement toward the surface via centrifugation. However, this centrifugation did not restore mature biofilm formation. Our results indicate that it is flagellum-mediated motility that is critical for both initial surface attachment and subsequent biofilm formation. Also, any role for L. monocytogenes flagella as adhesins on abiotic surfaces appears to be either minimal or motility dependent under the conditions we examined.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA 02115. Phone: (617) 432-1776. Fax: (617) 738-7664. E-mail: rkolter{at}hms.harvard.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 6 April 2007.

Journal of Bacteriology, June 2007, p. 4418-4424, Vol. 189, No. 12
0021-9193/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.01967-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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