title: Living in the matrix: assembly and control of Vibrio cholerae biofilms.
abstract: Nearly all bacteria form biofilms as a strategy for survival and persistence. Biofilms are associated with biotic and abiotic surfaces and are composed of aggregates of cells that are encased by a self-produced or acquired extracellular matrix. Vibrio cholerae has been studied as a model organism for understanding biofilm formation in environmental pathogens, as it spends much of its life cycle outside of the human host in the aquatic environment. Given the important role of biofilm formation in the V. cholerae life cycle, the molecular mechanisms underlying this process and the signals that trigger biofilm assembly or dispersal have been areas of intense investigation over the past 20 years. In this Review, we discuss V. cholerae surface attachment, various matrix components and the regulatory networks controlling biofilm formation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Teschler
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zamorano-Sánchez
authors.affiliation: Bioengineering Department, Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Utada
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher J A
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Warner
authors.affiliation: Bioengineering Department, Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Gerard C L
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA.
authors.forename: Roger G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Linington
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA.
authors.forename: Fitnat H
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Yildiz
mesh_terms: D001422:Bacterial Adhesion / Q000502:physiology; D018441:Biofilms / Q000254:growth & development*; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D014734:Vibrio cholerae / Q000502:physiology*