Providencia stuartii form biofilms and floating communities of cells that display high resistance to environmental insults

• Published in: PloS one 2017-03, Vol.12 (3), p.e0174213-e0174213
• Main Authors: El Khatib, Mariam, Tran, Que-Tien, Nasrallah, Chady, Lopes, Julie, Bolla, Jean-Michel, Vivaudou, Michel, Pagès, Jean-Marie, Colletier, Jacques-Philippe
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antibiotics; Bacteria; Bacterial diseases; Bacterial infections; Biochemistry, Molecular Biology; Biofilms; Biofilms - drug effects; Biofilms - growth & development; Biology and Life Sciences; Calcium; Calcium - pharmacology; Communities; E coli; Environment; Escherichia coli; Extracellular matrix; Floating structures; Gene Knockdown Techniques; Genomes; Gram-negative bacteria; Growth; Health aspects; High resistance; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Infections; Life Sciences; Magnesium; Magnesium - pharmacology; Medicine and Health Sciences; Microbial drug resistance; Microbial mats; Outer membrane proteins; Pathogens; pH effects; Physical Sciences; Providencia - drug effects; Providencia - growth & development; Providencia - physiology; Providencia stuartii; Streptococcus infections; Structural Biology; Urea; Urea - pharmacology; Urinary tract; Urine; Urogenital system
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0174213

Biofilms are organized communities of bacterial cells that are responsible for the majority of human chronic bacterial infections. Providencia stuartii is a Gram-negative biofilm-forming bacterium involved in high incidence of urinary tract infections in catheterized patients. Yet, the structuration of these biofilms, and their resistance to environmental insults remain poorly understood. Here, we report on planktonic cell growth and biofilm formation by P. stuartii, in conditions that mimic its most common pathophysiological habitat in humans, i.e. the urinary tract. We observed that, in the planktonic state, P. stuartii forms floating communities of cells, prior to attachment to a surface and subsequent adoption of the biofilm phenotype. P. stuartii planktonic and biofilm cells are remarkably resistant to calcium, magnesium and to high concentrations of urea, and show the ability to grow over a wide range of pHs. Experiments conducted on a P. stuartii strain knocked-out for the Omp-Pst2 porin sheds light on the role it plays in the early stages of growth, as well as in the adaptation to high concentration of urea and to varying pH.