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| Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics - Harvard Medical School | |
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Biofilm Development - Pseudomonas aeruginosa
| Through the genetic analyses performed over the last few years we have begun to understand the complex developmental process of biofilm formation on solid abiotic surfaces. These genetic analyses were done in several different bacteria (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Vibrio cholerae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Shewanella putrefaciens) and yielded a reasonably unified model (for gamma-proteobacteria) of biofilm development on abiotic surfaces. As the lab members who carried out those genetic screens have gone on to set up their own independent labs and continued their investigations, our lab has turned its attention to the formation of a different biofilm: the pellicle that forms at the air/water interface. The challenges for individual bacteria to form spatially fixed and organized communities on a liquid are different. Genetic screens currently underway using Pseudomonas aeruginosa as a model system should prove useful in understanding this phenomenon. |
Figure from: Kolter, R. and R. Losick. 1998. One for all and all for one. Science 280:226-227. |
People involved:
Yumiko Sakuragi
Recent papers:
Friedman L, Kolter R. Two genetic loci produce distinct carbohydrate-rich structural components of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm matrix. J Bacteriol. 2004 Jul;186(14):4457-65 (pdf).
Friedman L, Kolter R. Genes involved in matrix formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA14 biofilms. Mol Microbiol. 2004 Feb;51(3):675-90. (pdf)