A network model for biofilm development in Escherichia coli K-12.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In nature, bacteria often exist as biofilms. Biofilms are communities of microorganisms attached to a surface. It is clear that biofilm-grown cells harbor properties remarkably distinct from planktonic cells. Biofilms frequently complicate treatments of infections by protecting bacteria from the immune system, decreasing antibiotic efficacy and dispersing planktonic cells to distant body sites. In this work, we employed enhanced Boolean algebra to model biofilm formation.

Results

The network obtained describes biofilm formation successfully, assuming - in accordance with the literature - that when the negative regulators (RscCD and EnvZ/OmpR) are off, the positive regulator (FlhDC) is on. The network was modeled under three different conditions through time with s

SUBMITTER: Shala AA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3224578 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature