Spatiotemporal distribution of different extracellular polymeric substances and filamentation mediate Xylella fastidiosa adhesion and biofilm formation.

ABSTRACT: Microorganism pathogenicity strongly relies on the generation of multicellular assemblies, called biofilms. Understanding their organization can unveil vulnerabilities leading to potential treatments; spatially and temporally-resolved comprehensive experimental characterization can provide new details of biofilm formation, and possibly new targets for disease control. Here, biofilm formation of economically important phytopathogen Xylella fastidiosa was analyzed at single-cell resolution using nanometer-resolution spectro-microscopy techniques, addressing the role of different types of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) at each stage of the entire bacterial life cycle. Single cell adhesion is caused by unspecific electrostatic interactions through proteins at the cell polar region, w

SUBMITTER: Janissen R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4402645 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature