title: Study on the promotion of bacterial biofilm formation by a Salmonella conjugative plasmid and the underlying mechanism.
abstract: To investigate the effect of the pRST98 plasmid, originally isolated from Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S. Typhi), on biofilm (BF) formation, we carried out in vitro experiments using S. Typhi, Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) and Escherichia coli (E. coli). We further explored the effects of pRST98 in vivo by establishing two animal models, a tumor-bearing mouse model and a mouse urethral catheter model. Moreover, we examined the relationship between the quorum-sensing (QS) system and pRST98-mediated BF formation. These studies showed that pRST98 enhanced BF formation in different bacteria in vitro. In both animal models, pRST98 promoted BF formation and caused more severe pathological changes. It was previously reported that Salmonella senses exogenous N-acylhomoserine lactones (AHLs) through the regulatory protein SdiA and regulates the expression of genes including the virulence gene rck, which is located on the virulence plasmid of some serotypes of Salmonella. In this study, we confirmed the locus of the rck gene on pRST98 and found that AHLs increased rck expression in pRST98-carrying strains, thereby enhancing bacterial adherence, serum resistance and bacterial BF formation. In conclusion, the Salmonella conjugative plasmid pRST98 promotes bacterial BF formation both in vitro and in vivo, and the mechanism may relate to the AHL-SdiA-Rck signaling pathway.
authors.affiliation: Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Fengxia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Que
authors.affiliation: Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Lixiang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: You
authors.affiliation: Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.affiliation: Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Shuyan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D054742:Acyl-Butyrolactones / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D018441:Biofilms / Q000254:growth & development*; D055499:Catheter-Related Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D051379:Mice; D009368:Neoplasm Transplantation; D010957:Plasmids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D053038:Quorum Sensing / Q000235:genetics; D012481:Salmonella Infections, Animal / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D012485:Salmonella typhi / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity; D015398:Signal Transduction; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D062885:Urinary Catheters / Q000382:microbiology; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D054742:Acyl-Butyrolactones; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C097686:SdiA protein, bacteria; D015534:Trans-Activators; D037521:Virulence Factors