Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, 2109, Australia.
Microbiol Res. 2011 Sep 20;166(6):437-48. doi: 10.1016/j.micres.2010.08.003. Epub 2010 Sep 25.
Relatively little is known about the microbial ecology of biofilm communities or the diversity of antimicrobial molecules that they produce to regulate these communities. This study tested whether the production of antimicrobial activity in biofilm cultures is enhanced towards competing bacteria found in those biofilms. First, the production of antimicrobial activity of marine bacteria grown in biofilms was tested. Fourteen of the 105 marine isolates tested were found to produce antimicrobial factors when grown in biofilms. The antimicrobial activity produced by these isolates in biofilms was more potent and inhibited a broader range of target bacteria grown in biofilms compared to shaken liquid cultures. In a separate experiment, we found that cultivation in biofilms containing produced metabolites from an 'inducer' bacterium stimulated the production of antimicrobial molecules by 'producer' bacteria that were active against the 'inducer' bacterium. Overall, the study suggests that surface attached marine bacteria can target their antimicrobial activity towards competing bacteria in biofilms.
关于生物膜群落中的微生物生态学或它们产生的调节这些群落的抗菌分子的多样性，人们知之甚少。本研究测试了生物膜培养物中抗菌活性的产生是否针对生物膜中发现的竞争细菌增强。首先，测试了在生物膜中生长的海洋细菌产生抗菌活性的情况。在测试的 105 个海洋分离株中，有 14 个在生物膜中生长时产生抗菌因子。与摇瓶液体培养相比，这些分离株在生物膜中产生的抗菌活性更强，抑制了更广泛范围的生物膜中生长的靶细菌。在另一个实验中，我们发现，在含有“诱导剂”细菌代谢产物的生物膜中培养，刺激了对“诱导剂”细菌有活性的“生产者”细菌产生抗菌分子。总的来说，这项研究表明，附着在表面的海洋细菌可以将其抗菌活性靶向生物膜中的竞争细菌。
