Intracellular glutamine fluctuates with nitrogen availability and regulates <i>Mycobacterium smegmatis</i> biofilm formation.

ABSTRACT: Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) can form biofilms during human infection and in household plumbing systems, so understanding biofilm regulation could help us better treat and prevent NTM infections. Glucose drives NTM aggregation in vitro, and ammonium inhibits it, but the regulatory systems controlling this early step in biofilm formation are not understood. Here, in the model NTM Mycobacterium smegmatis, we show that multiple carbon and nitrogen sources have similar impacts on aggregation as glucose and ammonium , suggesting that the response to these nutrients is general and likely sensed through downstream, integrated signals. Next, we performed a transposon screen in M. smegmatis to uncover these putative regulatory nodes. Our screen revealed that mutating speci

SUBMITTER: Varner E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12632254 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature