TY - JOUR
T1 - Discovery and therapeutic targeting of differentiated biofilm subpopulations
AU - Bisht, Karishma
AU - Ann Wakeman, Catherine
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by NIH/NIGMS (R15GM128072) and CW received start-up funds from Texas Tech University. KB received a publication award from Tech American Society for Microbiology. We would like to thank Moamen Elmassry and members of the Wakeman Lab for critical reading of this manuscript. The opinions expressed in this manuscript are the authors? own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NIH.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Bisht and Wakeman.
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - The association of microorganisms into biofilms produces functionally organized microbial structures that promote community survival in a wide range of environments. Much like when individual cells within a multicellular organism express different genes from the same DNA blueprint, individual microbial cells located within different regions of a biofilm structure can exhibit distinct genetic programs. These spatially defined regions of physiologically differentiated cells are reminiscent of the role of tissues in multicellular organisms, with specific subpopulations in the microbial community serving defined roles to promote the overall health of the biofilm. The functions of these subpopulations are quite diverse and can range from dormant cells that can withstand antibiotic onslaughts to cells actively producing extracellular polymeric substances providing integrity to the entire community. The purpose of this review is to discuss the diverse roles of subpopulations in the stability and function of clonal biofilms, the methods for studying these subpopulations, and the ways these subpopulations can potentially be exploited for therapeutic intervention.
AB - The association of microorganisms into biofilms produces functionally organized microbial structures that promote community survival in a wide range of environments. Much like when individual cells within a multicellular organism express different genes from the same DNA blueprint, individual microbial cells located within different regions of a biofilm structure can exhibit distinct genetic programs. These spatially defined regions of physiologically differentiated cells are reminiscent of the role of tissues in multicellular organisms, with specific subpopulations in the microbial community serving defined roles to promote the overall health of the biofilm. The functions of these subpopulations are quite diverse and can range from dormant cells that can withstand antibiotic onslaughts to cells actively producing extracellular polymeric substances providing integrity to the entire community. The purpose of this review is to discuss the diverse roles of subpopulations in the stability and function of clonal biofilms, the methods for studying these subpopulations, and the ways these subpopulations can potentially be exploited for therapeutic intervention.
KW - Antibiotic resistance
KW - Biofilm
KW - Heterogeneity
KW - Infectious disease
KW - Subpopulations
KW - Technology
KW - Therapeutic targeting
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85072098383&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fmicb.2019.01908
DO - 10.3389/fmicb.2019.01908
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85072098383
VL - 10
JO - Frontiers in Microbiology
JF - Frontiers in Microbiology
SN - 1664-302X
IS - AUG
M1 - 1908
ER -