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 arrowReprints and Permissions
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 Al Laham, N.
Right arrow Articles by von Eiff, C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Al Laham, N.
Right arrow Articles by von Eiff, C.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, June 2007, p. 4494-4501, Vol. 189, No. 12
0021-9193/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.00160-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Augmented Expression of Polysaccharide Intercellular Adhesin in a Defined Staphylococcus epidermidis Mutant with the Small-Colony-Variant Phenotype{triangledown}

Nahed Al Laham,1 Holger Rohde,2 Gunnar Sander,1 Andreas Fischer,1 Muzaffar Hussain,1 Christine Heilmann,1 Dietrich Mack,3 Richard Proctor,4 Georg Peters,1 Karsten Becker,1 and Christof von Eiff1*

Institute of Medical Microbiology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany,1 Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie, Virologie und Hygiene, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany,2 Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, The School of Medicine, University of Wales Swansea, Swansea, United Kingdom,3 Departments of Medical Microbiology/Immunology and Medicine, University of Wisconsin Medical School, Madison, Wisconsin4

Received 31 January 2007/ Accepted 9 April 2007

While coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS), with their ability to form a thick, multilayered biofilm on foreign bodies, have been identified as the major cause of implant-associated infections, no data are available about biofilm formation by staphylococcal small-colony variants (SCVs). In the past years, a number of device-associated infections due to staphylococcal SCVs were described, among them, several pacemaker infections due to SCVs of CoNS auxotrophic to hemin. To test the characteristics of SCVs of CoNS, in particular, to study the ability of SCVs to form a biofilm on foreign bodies, we generated a stable mutant in electron transport by interrupting one of the hemin biosynthetic genes, hemB, in Staphylococcus epidermidis. In fact, this mutant displayed a stable SCV phenotype with tiny colonies showing strong adhesion to the agar surface. When the incubation time was extended to 48 h or a higher inoculum concentration was used, the mutant produced biofilm amounts on polystyrene similar to those produced by the parent strain. When grown under planktonic conditions, the mutant formed markedly larger cell clusters than the parental strain which were completely disintegrated by the specific ß-1,6-hexosaminidase dispersin B but were resistant to trypsin treatment. In a dot blot assay, the mutant expressed larger amounts of polysaccharide intercellular adhesin (PIA) than the parent strain. In conclusion, interrupting a hemin biosynthetic gene in S. epidermidis resulted in an SCV phenotype. Markedly larger cell clusters and the ability of the hemB mutant to form a biofilm are related to the augmented expression of PIA.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institute of Medical Microbiology, University Hospital of Münster, Domagkstr. 10, 48149 Münster, Germany. Phone: 49-251-83-55360. Fax: 49-251-83-55350. E-mail: eiffc{at}uni-muenster.de

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 20 April 2007.

Journal of Bacteriology, June 2007, p. 4494-4501, Vol. 189, No. 12
0021-9193/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.00160-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Fredheim, E. G. A., Klingenberg, C., Rohde, H., Frankenberger, S., Gaustad, P., Flaegstad, T., Sollid, J. E. (2009). Biofilm Formation by Staphylococcus haemolyticus. J. Clin. Microbiol. 47: 1172-1180 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Darnell, C. L., Hussa, E. A., Visick, K. L. (2008). The Putative Hybrid Sensor Kinase SypF Coordinates Biofilm Formation in Vibrio fischeri by Acting Upstream of Two Response Regulators, SypG and VpsR. J. Bacteriol. 190: 4941-4950 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»