Molecular regulation of adhesion and biofilm formation in high and low biofilm producers of Bacillus licheniformis using RNA-Seq

Abstract

RNA sequencing was used to reveal transcriptional changes during the motile-to-sessile switch in high and low biofilm-forming dairy strains of B. licheniformis isolated from Chinese milk powders. A significant part of the whole gene content was affected during this transition in both strains. In terms of the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database, seven metabolic pathways were significantly downregulated in the planktonic state compared to the biofilm state in both strains. Lipid and sugar metabolism seemed to play an important role in matrix production. Several genes involved in adhesion, matrix production and the matrix coating were either absent or less expressed in the biofilm state of the low biofilm producer compared to the high biofilm producer. Genes related to sporulation and the production of extracellular polymeric substances were concomitantly expressed in the biofilm state of both strains. These comprehensive insights will be helpful for future research into mechanisms and targets.

Keywords:

• Transcriptome
• motile-to-sessile switch
• adhesion
• biofilms
• Bacillus licheniformis

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Dave Wheeler for his useful discussion.

Disclosure statement

The authors did not declare any conflict of interest in submitting this manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

This project was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 31772080].