Sticking together: building a biofilm the Bacillus subtilis way.
Biofilms are ubiquitous communities of tightly associated bacteria encased in an extracellular matrix. Bacillus subtilis has long served as a robust model organism to examine the molecular mechanisms of biofilm formation, and a number of studies have revealed that this process is regulated by several integrated pathways. In this Review, we focus on the molecular mechanisms that control B. subtilis biofilm assembly, and then briefly summarize the current state of knowledge regarding biofilm disassembly. We also discuss recent progress that has expanded our understanding of B. subtilis biofilm formation on plant roots, which are a natural habitat for this soil bacterium.
Department of Microbiology and Immunobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts                 02115, USA.
Hera
H
Vlamakis
Yunrong
Y
Chai
Pascale
P
Beauregard
Richard
R
Losick
Roberto
R
Kolter
D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000502:physiology*; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D018441:Biofilms / Q000254:growth & development*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D008954:Models, Biological; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000382:microbiology