LapA is a novel adhesin involved in the development of biofilm in Bordetella bronchiseptica

AMBROSIS N; FERNANDEZ J; SISTI F

Mar del Plata

Congreso; LI Reunión SAIB 2015; 2015

Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Bioquímica y Biología Molecular

Bordetella bronchiseptica is a gram negative pathogen which causes respiratory infections in a broad range of mammals. It naturally infects many laboratory animals like mice, rats and rabbits and colonizes upper respiratory tract for their lifetime. It is known that biofilm formation ability is an essential feature for the establishment of those chronic infections.We have previously demonstrated that a cyclic di-GMP-dependent mechanism is involved in biofilm formation control. However, protein factors involved on that mechanism remains to be revealed. Using bioinformatics approaches we have identified three candidates that could be part of the biofilm formation control mechanism in a cdG-dependent manner. Those proteins were first identified on Pseudomonas fluorescens and named Lap´s (for large adhesion proteins). Our results indicates that overexpression of LapGBb reduces biofilm formation on two different backgrounds (RB50 and 973 strains). We have also engineered knock-out mutants on LapGBb and LapABb. Accordingly with our proposed model lapGBb shows enhanced biofilm formation ability and lapABb has lower capability to form biofilm on crystal violet microplate dishes assays and over glass surfaces. We have also determined that genes coding for Lap´s are transcribed from the same operon.