nagZ Triggers Gonococcal Biofilm Disassembly

Bacterial-bacterial interactions play a critical role in promoting biofilm formation. Here we show that NagZ, a protein associated with peptidoglycan recycling, has moonlighting activity that allows it to modulate biofilm accumulation by Neisseria gonorrhoeae . We characterize the biochemical proper...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2016-03, Vol.6 (1), p.22372-22372, Article 22372
Main Authors: Bhoopalan, Senthil V., Piekarowicz, Andrzej, Lenz, Jonathan D., Dillard, Joseph P., Stein, Daniel C.
Format: Article
Language:English
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Acetylglucosaminidase - genetics
Acetylglucosaminidase - metabolism
Bacterial Proteins - genetics
Bacterial Proteins - metabolism
Biofilms
Biomass
Cell culture
Cervix Uteri - microbiology
Female
Gonorrhea - microbiology
Gonorrhea - pathology
Humanities and Social Sciences
Humans
multidisciplinary
Neisseria gonorrhoeae - genetics
Neisseria gonorrhoeae - pathogenicity
Neisseria gonorrhoeae - physiology
Peptidoglycans
Science
Tissue culture
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Summary:Bacterial-bacterial interactions play a critical role in promoting biofilm formation. Here we show that NagZ, a protein associated with peptidoglycan recycling, has moonlighting activity that allows it to modulate biofilm accumulation by Neisseria gonorrhoeae . We characterize the biochemical properties of NagZ and demonstrate its ability to function as a dispersing agent for biofilms formed on abiotic surfaces. We extend these observations to cell culture and tissue explant models and show that in nagZ mutants, the biofilms formed in cell culture and on human tissues contain significantly more biomass than those formed by a wild-type strain. Our results demonstrate that an enzyme thought to be restricted to peptidoglycan recycling is able to disperse preformed biofilms.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/srep22372