Enterococcus faecalis readily colonizes the entire gastrointestinal tract and forms biofilms in a germ-free mouse model.

ABSTRACT: The mammalian gastrointestinal (GI) tract is a complex organ system with a twist-a significant portion of its composition is a community of microbial symbionts. The microbiota plays an increasingly appreciated role in many clinically-relevant conditions. It is important to understand the details of biofilm development in the GI tract since bacteria in this state not only use biofilms to improve colonization, biofilm bacteria often exhibit high levels of resistance to common, clinically relevant antibacterial drugs. Here we examine the initial colonization of the germ-free murine GI tract by Enterococcus faecalis-one of the first bacterial colonizers of the naïve mammalian gut. We demonstrate strong morphological similarities to our previous in vitro E. faecalis biofilm microcolony architec

SUBMITTER: Barnes AMT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5411234 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature