Journal
CELL
Volume 149, Issue 3, Pages 684-692Publisher
CELL PRESS
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2012.02.055
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Funding
- German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina [LPDS 2009-45]
- National Institutes of Health [GM18568, GM58213, GM82137, GM086258, AI057159]
- BASF Advanced Research Initiative at Harvard University
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Biofilms are structured communities of bacteria that are held together by an extracellular matrix consisting of protein and exopolysaccharide. Biofilms often have a limited lifespan, disassembling as nutrients become exhausted and waste products accumulate. D-amino acids were previously identified as a self-produced factor that mediates biofilm disassembly by causing the release of the protein component of the matrix in Bacillus subtilis. Here we report that B. subtilis produces an additional biofilm-disassembly factor, norspermidine. Dynamic light scattering and scanning electron microscopy experiments indicated that norspermidine interacts directly and specifically with exopolysaccharide. D-amino acids and norspermidine acted together to break down existing biofilms and mutants blocked in the production of both factors formed long-lived biofilms. Norspermidine, but not closely related polyamines, prevented biofilm formation by B. subtilis, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus.
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