title: Adherence to Intestinal Cells Promotes Biofilm Formation in Vibrio cholerae.
abstract: Vibrio cholerae, the etiological agent of cholera, is known to form biofilms to persist in the environment. It is demonstrated here that even during infection, biofilm genes are upregulated, and microscopic observation indicated that biofilm formation is initiated almost immediately after adherence of V. cholerae to intestinal cells. About 7-fold upregulation of the biofilm regulatory gene vpsT was observed within 30 minutes of adherence of V. cholerae to the intestinal cell line INT 407, and a massive induction of about 700-fold was observed in rabbit ileal loops. The upregulation was observed in the classical and El Tor biotype strains of serogroup O1 that is most frequently associated with epidemic cholera. vpsT upregulation was primarily dependent on the virulence master regulator AphA. Of possible clinical relevance was the observation that V. cholerae in the INT 407-associated biofilms was significantly more resistant to antibiotics than unadhered planktonic cells.
authors.affiliation: Infectious Diseases and Immunology Division, Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Kolkata, India.
authors.forename: Chirantana
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sengupta
authors.affiliation: Infectious Diseases and Immunology Division, Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Kolkata, India.
authors.forename: Oindrilla
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Mukherjee
authors.affiliation: Infectious Diseases and Immunology Division, Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Kolkata, India.
authors.forename: Rukhsana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chowdhury
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D018441:Biofilms / Q000254:growth & development*; D002460:Cell Line; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000382:microbiology*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D007082:Ileum / Q000382:microbiology; D011817:Rabbits; D013997:Time Factors; D041241:Vibrio cholerae O1 / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: aphA; biofilm formation; host cell contact; host pathogen interaction; vpsT induction