title: Involvement of flagella-driven motility and pili in Pseudomonas aeruginosa colonization at the air-liquid interface.
abstract: Many aerobic microorganisms can colonize at the air-liquid interface and form a multicellular structure, known as a pellicle. In this study, the involvement of motility and attachment traits in the Pseudomonas aeruginosa pellicle formation process was investigated. Flagella- and flagellar-motor-deficient mutants exhibited delayed pellicle formation and unusual pellicle morphology, indicating the large contribution of flagella-driven motility to structural development of the pellicle. A pili-deficient mutant showed normal pellicle formation properties, while the disruption of the pilus gene in the flagella-deficient mutant restored normal pellicle morphology. These results indicate that flagella and pili play key roles in P. aeruginosa pellicle development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan.
authors.forename: Kyosuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Arai
authors.forename: Masaharu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ishii
authors.forename: Yasuo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Igarashi
mesh_terms: D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D010861:Fimbriae, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology*; D005407:Flagella / Q000502:physiology*; D017353:Gene Deletion; D008124:Locomotion; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins