Tight modulation of Escherichia coli bacterial biofilm formation through controlled expression of adhesion factors.

ABSTRACT: Despite the economic and sanitary problems caused by harmful biofilms, biofilms are nonetheless used empirically in industrial environmental and bioremediation processes and may be of potential use in medical settings for interfering with pathogen development. Escherichia coli is one of the bacteria with which biofilm formation has been studied in great detail, and it is especially appreciated for biotechnology applications because of its genetic amenability. Here we describe the development of two new genetic tools enabling the constitutive and inducible expression of any gene or operon of interest at its native locus. In addition to providing valuable tools for complementation and overexpression experiments, these two compact genetic cassettes were used to modulate the biofilm formation

SUBMITTER: Da Re S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1907114 | biostudies-literature | 2007 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature