2010 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Repression of biofilm formation of Escherichia coli by regulating the actin protein

Research Project

Project/Area Number	21860057
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Biofunction/Bioprocess
Research Institution	Osaka University
Principal Investigator	OJIMA Yoshihiro Osaka University, 大学院・基礎工学研究科, 助教 (20546957)
Project Period (FY)	2009 – 2010
Keywords	大腸菌 / バイオフィルム / アクチンタンパク質 / 鞭毛
Research Abstract	The knockout of yggE gene, which encodes the actin-like protein of E. coli, showed the strong attachment of cells on the solid surface (such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polypropylenes (PP)) compared with the wild type of E. coli. As a mechanism of attachment, it was confirmed that the expression of flagella-related genes in yggE knockout mutant were 10 times higher than that of wild type and motility rate increased by three times. In addition, the observation of attached cells of yggE knockout mutant by using the scanning electron microscope revealed that the number of flagellum increased by several times compared with the wild strain, and those flagellums connected the cell with the solid surface or the cells each other. These results suggest that the actin-like protein of E. coli is deeply related to the flagellum and the biofilm formation.