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Gene expression in Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms

Nature volume 413, pages 860–864 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

Bacteria often adopt a sessile biofilm lifestyle that is resistant to antimicrobial treatment1,2,3,4,5. Opportunistic pathogenic bacteria like Pseudomonas aeruginosa can develop persistent infections1,2,3. To gain insights into the differences between free-living P. aeruginosa cells and those in biofilms, and into the mechanisms underlying the resistance of biofilms to antibiotics, we used DNA microarrays. Here we show that, despite the striking differences in lifestyles, only about 1% of genes showed differential expression in the two growth modes; about 0.5% of genes were activated and about 0.5% were repressed in biofilms. Some of the regulated genes are known to affect antibiotic sensitivity of free-living P. aeruginosa. Exposure of biofilms to high levels of the antibiotic tobramycin caused differential expression of 20 genes. We propose that this response is critical for the development of biofilm resistance to tobramycin. Our results show that gene expression in biofilm cells is similar to that in free-living cells but there are a small number of significant differences. Our identification of biofilm-regulated genes points to mechanisms of biofilm resistance to antibiotics.

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Figure 1: Scanning electron micrographs of a P. aeruginosa biofilm on the surface of a granite pebble.
Figure 2: Gene expression and spot intensities of the 5,500 P. aeruginosa genes analysed with the microarray.
Figure 3: Comparison of wild-type and rpoS-mutant P. aeruginosa biofilms.

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Acknowledgements

We thank T. Moninger for assistance with electron microscopy and A. Hay for providing information on E. coli biofilm gene expression in advance of publication. Supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (E.P.G.), a New Technologies Grant from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (S.L.), and a grant from the Procter & Gamble Company (E.P.G.). M.W. was supported by a National Science Foundation Research Training Grant and a US Public Health Service Training Grant. G.M.T. is supported by a National Science Foundation Center Grant.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City, 52242, Iowa, USA

    Marvin Whiteley & E. P. Greenberg

  2. Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard University, Boston, 02115, Massachusetts, USA

    M. Gita Bangera & Stephen Lory

  3. Department of Microbiology, University of Washington, Seattle, 98195, Washington, USA

    Roger E. Bumgarner

  4. Department of Civil Engineering, Northwestern University, Chicago, 60208, Illinois, USA

    Matthew R. Parsek & Gail M. Teitzel

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  1. Marvin Whiteley
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  7. E. P. Greenberg
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Correspondence to E. P. Greenberg.

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Whiteley, M., Bangera, M., Bumgarner, R. et al. Gene expression in Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms. Nature 413, 860–864 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35101627

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