ArticleJournal of bacteriology2006
Biofilm formation by Streptococcus pneumoniae: role of choline, extracellular DNA, and capsular polysaccharide in microbial accretion.
Article in Journal of bacteriology, 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 185 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
185 citing papers in PubMed, 320 citations in OpenAlex.
- Trial
- A synopsis of competence-regulated virulence inVirulence · 2026Review
- Network-based bioinformatics for the prediction of candidate SNPs in Staphylococcus aureus virulence and resistance genes.Folia microbiologica · 2026Article
- Biofilm formation during pneumococcal carriage imprints naturally acquired humoral immunity.PLoS pathogens · 2026Article
- Article
- Article
- On the role of choline in natural DNA transformation inFrontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Identification of a novel gene associated with group B Streptococcus persister cell formation and biofilm production.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Biofilm formation during pneumococcal carriage imprints naturally acquired humoral immunity.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Formation Dynamics of Honeycomb-Like Capsules and Sponge-Like Biofilms inGlobal challenges (Hoboken, NJ) · 2025Article
- The rise of serotype 8 is associated with lineages and mutations in the capsular operon with different potential to produce invasive pneumococcal disease.Emerging microbes & infections · 2025Article
- Label-free microscopy enables high-throughput identification of genes controlling biofilm development.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Host Serum Amyloid A1 FacilitatesMicroorganisms · 2025Article
- Structure, Function, and Regulation of LytA: TheMicroorganisms · 2025Review
- Release of extracellular DNA byiScience · 2025Article
- "The NET effect": Neutrophil extracellular traps-a potential key component of the dysregulated host immune response in sepsis.Critical care (London, England) · 2025Review
- Point mutations in functionally diverse genes are associated with increased natural DNA transformation in multidrug resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae.Nucleic acids research · 2025Article
- Secreted nucleases reclaim extracellular DNA during biofilm development.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2024Article
- Biological puzzles solved by usingJournal of bacteriology · 2024Review
- Bacterial surface lipoproteins mediate epithelial microinvasion byInfection and immunity · 2024Article
125 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Streptococcus pneumoniae colonizes the human upper respiratory tract, and this asymptomatic colonization is known to precede pneumococcal disease. In this report, chemically defined and semisynthetic media were used to identify the initial steps of biofilm formation by pneumococcus during growth on abiotic surfaces such as polystyrene or glass. Unencapsulated pneumococci adhered to abiotic surfaces and formed a three-dimensional structure about 25 microm deep, as observed by confocal laser scanning microscopy and low-temperature scanning electron microscopy. Choline residues of cell wall teichoic acids were found to play a fundamental role in pneumococcal biofilm development. The role in biofilm formation of choline-binding proteins, which anchor to the teichoic acids of the cell envelope, was determined using unambiguously characterized mutants. The results showed that LytA amidase, LytC lysozyme, LytB glucosaminidase, CbpA adhesin, PcpA putative adhesin, and PspA (pneumococcal surface protein A) mutants had a decreased capacity to form biofilms, whereas no such reduction was observed in Pce phosphocholinesterase or CbpD putative amidase mutants. Moreover, encapsulated, clinical pneumococcal isolates were impaired in their capacity to form biofilms. In addition, a role for extracellular DNA and proteins in the establishment of S. pneumoniae biofilms was demonstrated. Taken together, these observations provide information on conditions that favor the sessile mode of growth by S. pneumoniae. The experimental approach described here should facilitate the study of bacterial genes that are required for biofilm formation. Those results, in turn, may provide insight into strategies to prevent pneumococcal colonization of its human host.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.