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Temperature affects c‐di‐ GMP signalling and biofilm formation in V ibrio cholerae
Author(s) -
Townsley Loni,
Yildiz Fitnat H.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
environmental microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.954
H-Index - 188
eISSN - 1462-2920
pISSN - 1462-2912
DOI - 10.1111/1462-2920.12799
Subject(s) - biofilm , biology , vibrio cholerae , pathogen , microbiology and biotechnology , mutant , facultative , gene , human pathogen , phosphodiesterase , bacteria , genetics , biochemistry , ecology , enzyme
Summary Biofilm formation is crucial to the environmental survival and transmission of V ibrio cholerae , the facultative human pathogen responsible for the disease cholera. During its infectious cycle, V . cholerae experiences fluctuations in temperature within the aquatic environment and during the transition between human host and aquatic reservoirs. In this study, we report that biofilm formation is induced at low temperatures through increased levels of the signalling molecule, cyclic diguanylate (c‐di‐ GMP ). Strains harbouring in frame deletions of all V . cholerae genes that are predicted to encode diguanylate cyclases ( DGCs ) or phosphodiesterases ( PDEs ) were screened for their involvement in low‐temperature‐induced biofilm formation and V ibrio polysaccharide gene expression. Of the 52 mutants tested, deletions of six DGCs and three PDEs were found to affect these phenotypes at low temperatures. Unlike wild type, a strain lacking all six DGCs did not exhibit a low‐temperature‐dependent increase in c‐di‐ GMP , indicating that these DGCs are required for temperature modulation of c‐di‐ GMP levels. We also show that temperature modulates c‐di‐ GMP levels in a similar fashion in the G ram‐negative pathogen P seudomonas aeruginosa but not in the G ram‐positive pathogen L isteria monocytogenes. This study uncovers the role of temperature in environmental regulation of biofilm formation and c‐di‐ GMP signalling.