Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25713360›Full record

ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2015

Thiopeptide antibiotics stimulate biofilm formation in Bacillus subtilis.

Rachel Bleich, Jeramie D Watrous, Pieter C Dorrestein, Albert A Bowers, Elizabeth A Shank

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 72 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
72citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

72 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Control ofFuture microbiology · 2025
    Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Active interface bulging inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024
    Article
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Genomic and biological control ofFrontiers in microbiology · 2024
    Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. TapA acts as specific chaperone in TasA filament formation by strand complementation.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023
    Article
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. Two plant-associatedFrontiers in plant science · 2023
    Article
  20. Article

12 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Rachel BleichDivision of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599;
Jeramie D WatrousDepartments of Pharmacology and Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093; Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093;
Pieter C DorresteinDepartments of Pharmacology and Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093; Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093;
Albert A BowersDivision of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599;
Elizabeth A ShankDepartments of Biology and Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599; and Curriculum in Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599 eshank@unc.edu.

Funding

The chemical and genetic basis of interspecies interactionsR01AI095125 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI DORRESTEIN, PIETER C, POGLIANO, KIT J · 2011 to 2014
$2.4M
Real-Time Imaging of metabolic CommunicationR01GM094802 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI DORRESTEIN, PIETER C · 2010 to 2013
$1.0M
Synapt ion mobility mass spectrometerS10RR029121 · NCRR · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI DORRESTEIN, PIETER C · 2011 to 2011
$802k
NCRR NIH HHS S10 RR029121NCRR NIH HHS S10RR029121NIAID NIH HHS AI095125NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI095125NIGMS NIH HHS GM094802NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM094802
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Bacteria have evolved the ability to produce a wide range of structurally complex natural products historically called "secondary" metabolites. Although some of these compounds have been identified as bacterial communication cues, more frequently natural products are scrutinized for antibiotic activities that are relevant to human health. However, there has been little regard for how these compounds might otherwise impact the physiology of neighboring microbes present in complex communities. Bacillus cereus secretes molecules that activate expression of biofilm genes in Bacillus subtilis. Here, we use imaging mass spectrometry to identify the thiocillins, a group of thiazolyl peptide antibiotics, as biofilm matrix-inducing compounds produced by B. cereus. We found that thiocillin increased the population of matrix-producing B. subtilis cells and that this activity could be abolished by multiple structural alterations. Importantly, a mutation that eliminated thiocillin's antibiotic activity did not affect its ability to induce biofilm gene expression in B. subtilis. We go on to show that biofilm induction appears to be a general phenomenon of multiple structurally diverse thiazolyl peptides and use this activity to confirm the presence of thiazolyl peptide gene clusters in other bacterial species. Our results indicate that the roles of secondary metabolites initially identified as antibiotics may have more complex effects--acting not only as killing agents, but also as specific modulators of microbial cellular phenotypes.

Indexed as

BiofilmsAmino Acid SequenceAnti-Bacterial AgentsBacillus subtilisMass SpectrometryMolecular Sequence DataPeptidesAnti-Bacterial AgentsPeptidesthiocillinBacillus cereusBacillus subtilisbiofilm formationthiazolyl antibioticsthiopeptides

Identifiers

PMID25713360
PMCPMC4364203

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.