School of Life Science, Beijing Institute of Technology, 5# Zhongguancun Nandajie, Beijing, 100081 People's Republic of China.
Indian J Microbiol. 2010 Oct;50(4):362-8. doi: 10.1007/s12088-011-0142-1. Epub 2011 Jan 21.
Biofilm is bacterial population adherent to each other and to surfaces or interfaces, often enclosed by a matrix. Various biomolecules contribute to the establishment of biofilms, yet the process of building a biofilm is still under active investigation. Indole is known as a metabolite of amino acid tryptophan, which, however, has recently been proved to participate in various aspects of bacterial life including virulence induction, cell cycle regulation, acid resistance, and especially, signaling biofilm formation. Moreover, indole is also proposed to be a novel signal involved in quorum sensing, a bacterial cooperation behavior sometimes concerning the biofilm formation. Here the signaling role and molecular mechanism of indole on bacterial biofilm formation are reviewed, as well discussed is its relation to bacterial living adaptivity.
生物膜是指细菌种群彼此附着并附着在表面或界面上，通常被基质包围。各种生物分子有助于生物膜的建立，但生物膜的形成过程仍在积极研究中。吲哚被认为是氨基酸色氨酸的代谢物，但最近已被证明参与了细菌生活的各个方面，包括毒力诱导、细胞周期调节、耐酸和特别是信号生物膜形成。此外，吲哚也被提议是一种参与群体感应的新型信号，群体感应是一种细菌合作行为，有时与生物膜形成有关。本文综述了吲哚在细菌生物膜形成中的信号作用和分子机制，并讨论了其与细菌生存适应性的关系。
