Planktonic aggregates of Staphylococcus aureus protect against common antibiotics.

ABSTRACT: Bacterial cells are mostly studied during planktonic growth although in their natural habitats they are often found in communities such as biofilms with dramatically different physiological properties. We have examined another type of community namely cellular aggregates observed in strains of the human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus. By laser-diffraction particle-size analysis (LDA) we show, for strains forming visible aggregates, that the aggregation starts already in the early exponential growth phase and proceeds until post-exponential phase where more than 90% of the population is part of the aggregate community. Similar to some types of biofilm, the structural component of S. aureus aggregates is the polysaccharide intercellular adhesin (PIA). Importantly, PIA production correlates w

SUBMITTER: Haaber J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3399816 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature