title: Probiotic Escherichia coli strain Nissle 1917 outcompetes intestinal pathogens during biofilm formation.
abstract: Many bacterial infections are associated with biofilm formation. Bacterial biofilms can develop on essentially all kinds of surfaces, producing chronic and often intractable infections. Escherichia coli is an important pathogen causing a wide range of gastrointestinal infections. E. coli strain Nissle 1917 has been used for many decades as a probiotic against a variety of intestinal disorders and is probably the best field-tested E. coli strain in the world. Here we have investigated the biofilm-forming capacity of Nissle 1917. We found that the strain was a good biofilm former. Not only was it significantly better at biofilm formation than enteropathogenic, enterotoxigenic and enterohaemorrhagic E. coli strains, it was also able to outcompete such strains during biofilm formation. The results support the notion of bacterial prophylaxis employing Nissle 1917 and may partially explain why the strain has a beneficial effect on many intestinal disorders.
authors.affiliation: Microbial Genomics Group, Center for Biological Sequence Analysis, TechnicalUniversity of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark.
authors.forename: Viktoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hancock
authors.affiliation: Microbial Genomics Group, Center for Biological Sequence Analysis, TechnicalUniversity of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark.
authors.forename: Malin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dahl
authors.affiliation: Microbial Genomics Group, Center for Biological Sequence Analysis, TechnicalUniversity of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark.
authors.forename: Per
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Klemm
mesh_terms: D018441:Biofilms / Q000254:growth & development*; D003087:Colicins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D003470:Culture Media; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007422:Intestines / Q000382:microbiology*; D019936:Probiotics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D003087:Colicins; D003470:Culture Media