Escherichia coli Biofilms

Christophe Beloin (1) , Agnès Roux (1) , Jean-Marc Ghigo (1)

1 Génétique des Biofilms

Escherichia coli is a predominant species among facultative anaerobic bacteria of the gastrointestinal tract. Both its frequent community lifestyle and the availability of a wide array of genetic tools contributed to establish E. coli as a relevant model organism for the study of surface colonization. Several key factors, including different extracellular appendages, are implicated in E. coli surface colonization and their expression and activity are finely regulated, both in space and time, to ensure productive events leading to mature biofilm formation. This chapter will present known molecular mechanisms underlying biofilm development in both commensal and pathogenic E. coli.

Keywords: Passenger Domain; Abiotic Surface; Acylated Homoserine Lactone; Colanic Acid; Capsular Polysaccharide

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Microbiology and Parasitology; Bacteriology

Christophe Beloin, Agnès Roux, Jean-Marc Ghigo. Escherichia coli Biofilms. Tony Romeo. Bacterial Biofilms, 322, Springer, pp.249-289, 2008, Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology, 978-3-540-75417-6. ⟨10.1007/978-3-540-75418-3_12⟩. ⟨pasteur-00473297⟩