Enzymatic modifications of exopolysaccharides enhance bacterial persistence.

ABSTRACT: Biofilms are surface-attached communities of bacterial cells embedded in a self-produced matrix that are found ubiquitously in nature. The biofilm matrix is composed of various extracellular polymeric substances, which confer advantages to the encapsulated bacteria by protecting them from eradication. The matrix composition varies between species and is dependent on the environmental niche that the bacteria inhabit. Exopolysaccharides (EPS) play a variety of important roles in biofilm formation in numerous bacterial species. The ability of bacteria to thrive in a broad range of environmental settings is reflected in part by the structural diversity of the EPS produced both within individual bacterial strains as well as by different species. This variability is achieved through polymerizati

SUBMITTER: Whitfield GB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4432689 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature