« Previous AbstractPharmacokinetic and tissue distribution study of eight volatile constituents in rats orally administrated with the essential oil of Artemisiae argyi Folium by GC-MS/MS    Next Abstract"Ultrafast Self-Healing, Highly Stretchable, Adhesive, and Transparent Hydrogel by Polymer Cluster Enhanced Double Networks for Both Strain Sensors and Environmental Remediation Application" »

NPJ Biofilms Microbiomes

Title:		Weaponizing volatiles to inhibit competitor biofilms from a distance
Author(s):		Hou Q; Keren-Paz A; Korenblum E; Oved R; Malitsky S; Kolodkin-Gal I;
Address:		"Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel. Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel. Metabolic Profiling Unit, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel. sergey.malitsky@weizmann.ac.il. Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel. ilana.kolodkin-gal@weizmann.ac.il"
Journal Title:		NPJ Biofilms Microbiomes
Year:		2021
Volume:		20210105
Issue:		1
Page Number:		2 -
DOI:		10.1038/s41522-020-00174-4
ISSN/ISBN:		2055-5008 (Electronic) 2055-5008 (Linking)
Abstract:		"The soil bacterium Bacillus subtilis forms beneficial biofilms that induce plant defences and prevent the growth of pathogens. It is naturally found in the rhizosphere, where microorganisms coexist in an extremely competitive environment, and thus have evolved a diverse arsenal of defence mechanisms. In this work, we found that volatile compounds produced by B. subtilis biofilms inhibited the development of competing biofilm colonies, by reducing extracellular matrix gene expression, both within and across species. This effect was dose-dependent, with the structural defects becoming more pronounced as the number of volatile-producing colonies increased. This inhibition was mostly mediated by organic volatiles, and we identified the active molecules as 3-methyl-1-butanol and 1-butanol. Similar results were obtained with biofilms formed by phylogenetically distinct bacterium sharing the same niche, Escherichia coli, which produced the biofilm-inhibiting 3-methyl-1-butanol and 2-nonanon. The ability of established biofilms to inhibit the development and spreading of new biofilms from afar might be a general mechanism utilized by bacterial biofilms to protect an occupied niche from the invasion of competing bacteria"
Keywords:		"1-Butanol/metabolism/pharmacology Bacillus subtilis/physiology Bacterial Proteins/genetics Biofilms/*drug effects/growth & development Escherichia coli/physiology Extracellular Polymeric Substance Matrix/drug effects/genetics Gene Expression Regulation, B;"
Notes:		"MedlineHou, Qihui Keren-Paz, Alona Korenblum, Elisa Oved, Rela Malitsky, Sergey Kolodkin-Gal, Ilana eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2021/01/07 NPJ Biofilms Microbiomes. 2021 Jan 5; 7(1):2. doi: 10.1038/s41522-020-00174-4"