To be or not to be a biofilm

Biofilm formation is a specialized mode of growth in which bacteria leave the free-living state attach to a surface and aggregate within a self-produced polymeric. The hallmark of the biofilm lifestyle is increased resistance to disinfectants, antibiotics and the immune system. This has made biofilms a major cause of problems in environmental, industrial and medical settings. The transition between the planktonic and biofilm mode of growth is a tightly regulated process that is still not well understood. In this talk I will present our work related to regulation of early biofilm development in the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The talk will focus on c-di-GMP and cAMP signaling as well as several key proteins SadB, MotAB and AmrZ which play a central role in the decision to proceed with surface colonization and biofilm formation.