Interference with ecological competition in mixed species biofilms containing Salmonella

Bacteria commonly live in dense surface-associated communities, known as biofilms, which cause major problems and economic losses within industrial and medical sectors. Since the vast majority of natural biofilms contain multiple strains or species, competitive ecological interactions are expected to be both intense and important within biofilm communities. A key corollary of the importance of competition is that it should strongly shape bacterial regulatory networks. It has therefore been proposed that microbial stress response systems evolved to directly detect and respond to harm caused by ecological competition (‘competition sensing’). We hypothesize that the enhanced persistence-related phenotypes often observed in mixed species biofilms result at least in part from responses to competitive interactions between species in the biofilm, however, studying these responses at the molecular level is challenging. Here we aim to apply advanced gene expression analyses to study how bacteria sense and respond to ecological competition. The ultimate goal is to develop innovative antimicrobials that interfere with ecological competition in order to weaken the biofilms and make them easier to treat with traditional antibiotics or disinfectants. Specifically, the focus will be on treatment of Salmonella within mixed species biofilm consortia in food and feed industry and within the intestinal tract of chickens.

Keywords:salmonella

Disciplines:Plant biology