Matrix Production and Sporulation in Bacillus subtilis Biofilms Localize to Propagating Wave Fronts.

ABSTRACT: Bacterial biofilms are surface-attached microbial communities encased in self-produced extracellular polymeric substances. Here we demonstrate that during the development of Bacillus subtilis biofilms, matrix production is localized to an annular front propagating at the periphery and sporulation to a second front at a fixed distance at the interior. We show that within these fronts, cells switch off matrix production and transition to sporulation after a set time delay of ∼100 min. Correlation analyses of fluctuations in fluorescence reporter activity reveal that the fronts emerge from a pair of gene-expression waves of matrix production and sporulation. The localized expression waves travel across cells that are immobilized in the biofilm matrix in contrast to active cell migration or ho

SUBMITTER: Srinivasan S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5883974 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature