Depolymerization of b-1,6-N-acetyl-d-glucosamine disrupts the integrity of diverse bacterial biofilms

Abstract

Polymeric beta-1,6-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (poly-beta-1,6-GlcNAc) has been implicated as an Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilm adhesin, the formation of which requires the pgaABCD and icaABCD loci, respectively. Enzymatic hydrolysis of poly-beta-1,6-GlcNAc, demonstrated for the first time by chromatography and mass spectrometry, disrupts biofilm formation by these species and by Yersinia pestis and Pseudomonas fluorescens, which possess pgaABCD homologues.

Part of Endotoxins research · Curated by Lauren Lowenstein, The Biotoxin Lady