ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2022
The structural role of bacterial eDNA in the formation of biofilm streamers.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers.
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Who cites it
47 citing papers in PubMed, 80 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Extracellular matrix chemistry tunes bacterial biofilm metabolism and optimizes fitness.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Selective Trapping of Bacteria in Porous Media by Cell Length.Integrative and comparative biology · 2026Article
- Reduction of bacterial colonization on buckling-induced wrinkled surfaces under fluid shear.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Raman signatures ofFrontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Advances in antibiofilm strategies for medical implant-associated infections: emerging technologies and translational challenges.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Review
- Stress-induced toxic genomic R-loops support biofilm extracellular matrix formation.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Virulence Plasmid Modulates Glucose-Mediated Biofilm Regulation inLife (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Stress-hardening behaviour of biofilm streamers.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Single-cell lysis patterns morphogenesis of eDNA in the matrix ofProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Biofilm and Outer Membrane Vesicle Formation in ESKAPE Gram-Negative Bacteria: A Comprehensive Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Extracellular matrix chemistry tunes bacterial biofilm metabolism and optimizes fitness.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Cell differentiation, aging, and death in spatially organized yeast communities: mechanisms and consequences.Cell death and differentiation · 2025Review
- Microfluidics unveils role of gravity and shear stress on Pseudomonas fluorescens motility and biofilm growth.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2025Article
- Release of extracellular DNA byiScience · 2025Article
- Recent Advances in Biofilm Control Technologies for the Food Industry.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Across diverse habitats, bacteria are mainly found as biofilms, surface-attached communities embedded in a self-secreted matrix of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), which enhance bacterial recalcitrance to antimicrobial treatment and mechanical stresses. In the presence of flow and geometric constraints such as corners or constrictions, biofilms can take the form of long, suspended filaments (streamers), which bear important consequences in industrial and clinical settings by causing clogging and fouling. The formation of streamers is thought to be driven by the viscoelastic nature of the biofilm matrix. Yet, little is known about the structural composition of streamers and how it affects their mechanical properties. Here, using a microfluidic platform that allows growing and precisely examining biofilm streamers, we show that extracellular DNA (eDNA) constitutes the backbone and is essential for the mechanical stability of Pseudomonas aeruginosa streamers. This finding is supported by the observations that DNA-degrading enzymes prevent the formation of streamers and clear already formed ones and that the antibiotic ciprofloxacin promotes their formation by increasing the release of eDNA. Furthermore, using mutants for the production of the exopolysaccharide Pel, an important component of P. aeruginosa EPS, we reveal an concurring role of Pel in tuning the mechanical properties of the streamers. Taken together, these results highlight the importance of eDNA and of its interplay with Pel in determining the mechanical properties of P. aeruginosa streamers and suggest that targeting the composition of streamers can be an effective approach to control the formation of these biofilm structures.
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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.