Biofilms of the non-tuberculous Mycobacterium chelonae form an extracellular matrix and display distinct expression patterns

Perla Vega-Dominguez, Eliza Peterson, Min Pan, Alessandro Di Maio, Saumya Singh, Siva Umapathy, Deepak K Saini, Nitin Baliga, Apoorva Bhatt

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)
174 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Mycobacterium chelonae is an environmental, non-tuberculous mycobacterial species, capable of causing infections in humans. Biofilm formation is a key strategy used by M. chelonae in colonising niches in the environment and in the host. We studied a water-air interface (pellicle) biofilm of M. chelonae using a wide array of approaches to outline the molecular structure and composition of the biofilm. Scanning electron micrographs showed that M. chelonae biofilms produced an extracellular matrix. Using a combination of biochemical analysis, Raman spectroscopy, and fluorescence microscopy, we showed the matrix to consist of proteins, carbohydrates, lipids and eDNA. Glucose was the predominant sugar present in the biofilm matrix, and its relative abundance decreased in late (established) biofilms. RNA-seq analysis of the biofilms showed upregulation of genes involved in redox metabolism. Additionally, genes involved in mycolic acid, other lipid and glyoxylate metabolism were also upregulated in the early biofilms.

Original languageEnglish
Article number100043
JournalThe Cell Surface
Volume6
Early online date5 Aug 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2020

Bibliographical note

© 2020 The Authors.

Keywords

  • Biofilms
  • Extracellular matrix
  • Lipids
  • Mycobacterium chelonae
  • Non-tuberculous mycobacteria
  • Raman spectroscopy

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Molecular Biology
  • Cell Biology
  • Microbiology
  • Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

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