Dove Marine Laboratory, School of Marine Science and Technology, Newcastle University, North Shields, United Kingdom.
PLoS One. 2010 Dec 14;5(12):e15668. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0015668.
Microbial biofilms are composed of a hydrated matrix of biopolymers including polypeptides, polysaccharides and nucleic acids and act as a protective barrier and microenvironment for the inhabiting microbes. While studying marine biofilms, we observed that supernatant produced by a marine isolate of Bacillus licheniformis was capable of dispersing bacterial biofilms. We investigated the source of this activity and identified the active compound as an extracellular DNase (NucB). We have shown that this enzyme rapidly breaks up the biofilms of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. We demonstrate that bacteria can use secreted nucleases as an elegant strategy to disperse established biofilms and to prevent de novo formation of biofilms of competitors. DNA therefore plays an important dynamic role as a reversible structural adhesin within the biofilm.
微生物生物膜由水合生物聚合物基质组成，包括多肽、多糖和核酸，并充当栖息微生物的保护屏障和微环境。在研究海洋生物膜时，我们观察到地衣芽孢杆菌海洋分离株产生的上清液能够分散细菌生物膜。我们研究了这种活性的来源，并确定活性化合物为一种细胞外 DNA 酶（NucB）。我们已经表明，这种酶可以迅速分解革兰氏阳性和革兰氏阴性细菌的生物膜。我们证明细菌可以将分泌的核酸酶作为一种巧妙的策略来分散已建立的生物膜，并防止竞争细菌生物膜的重新形成。因此，DNA 在生物膜中作为一种可逆的结构黏附素起着重要的动态作用。
