This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Supplemental material
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 Valle, J.
Right arrow Articles by Ghigo, J.-M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Valle, J.
Right arrow Articles by Ghigo, J.-M.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, January 2008, p. 264-274, Vol. 190, No. 1
0021-9193/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.01405-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

The Amino Acid Valine Is Secreted in Continuous-Flow Bacterial Biofilms{triangledown} ,{ddagger}

Jaione Valle,1,{dagger} Sandra Da Re,1,{dagger} Solveig Schmid,1 David Skurnik,2,3 Richard D'Ari,4 and Jean-Marc Ghigo1*

Unité de Génétique des Biofilms, Institut Pasteur (CNRS URA 2172), 25 rue du Dr. Roux, 75724 Paris CEDEX 15, France,1 INSERM U722, Université Paris 7 Denis Diderot, Faculté de Médecine Xavier Bichat, 75018 Paris, France,2 EA 3964, Université Paris 7 Denis Diderot, Faculté de Médecine Xavier Bichat, 75018 Paris, France,3 Institut Jacques Monod, CNRS, Université Paris 6, Université Paris 7, 75251 Paris, CEDEX 05, France4

Received 29 August 2007/ Accepted 19 October 2007

Biofilms are structured communities characterized by distinctive gene expression patterns and profound physiological changes compared to those of planktonic cultures. Here, we show that many gram-negative bacterial biofilms secrete high levels of a small-molecular-weight compound, which inhibits the growth of only Escherichia coli K-12 and a rare few other natural isolates. We demonstrate both genetically and biochemically that this molecule is the amino acid valine, and we provide evidence that valine production within biofilms results from metabolic changes occurring within high-density biofilm communities when carbon sources are not limiting. This finding identifies a natural environment in which bacteria can encounter high amounts of valine, and we propose that in-biofilm valine secretion may be the long-sought reason for widespread but unexplained valine resistance found in most enterobacteria. Our results experimentally validate the postulated production of metabolites that is characteristic of the conditions associated with some biofilm environments. The identification of such molecules may lead to new approaches for biofilm monitoring and control.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Unité de Génétique des Biofilms, Institut Pasteur (CNRS URA 2172), 25 rue du Dr. Roux, 75724 Paris CEDEX 15, France. Phone: 33 01 40 61 34 18. Fax: 33 01 45 68 80 07. E-mail: jmghigo{at}pasteur.fr

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 2 November 2007.

{ddagger} Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://jb.asm.org/.

{dagger} These authors contributed equally to this work.

Journal of Bacteriology, January 2008, p. 264-274, Vol. 190, No. 1
0021-9193/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.01405-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Kim, W., Levy, S. B. (2008). Increased Fitness of Pseudomonas fluorescens Pf0-1 Leucine Auxotrophs in Soil. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 3644-3651 [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»