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Three-dimensional low shear culture of Mycobacterium bovis BCG induces biofilm formation and antimicrobial drug tolerance

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posted on 2023-06-09, 22:51 authored by Daire Cantillon, Justyna Wroblewska, Ian Cooper, Melanie NewportMelanie Newport, Simon WaddellSimon Waddell
Mycobacteria naturally grow as corded biofilms in liquid media without detergent. Such detergent-free biofilm phenotypes may reflect the growth pattern of bacilli in tuberculous lung lesions. New strategies are required to treat tuberculosis, which is responsible for more deaths each year than any other bacterial disease. The lengthy 6-month regimen for drug-sensitive tuberculosis is necessary to remove antimicrobial drug tolerant populations of bacilli that persist through drug therapy. The role of biofilm-like growth in the generation of these sub-populations remains poorly understood despite the hypothesised clinical significance and mounting evidence of biofilms in pathogenesis. We adapt a three-dimensional Rotary Cell Culture System to model M. bovis BCG biofilm growth in low-shear detergent-free liquid suspension. Importantly, biofilms form without attachment to artificial surfaces and without severe nutrient starvation or environmental stress. Biofilm-derived planktonic bacilli are tolerant to isoniazid and streptomycin, but not rifampicin. This phenotypic drug tolerance is lost after passage in drug-free media. Transcriptional profiling reveals induction of cell surface regulators, sigE and BCG_0559c alongside the ESX-5 secretion apparatus in these low-shear liquid-suspension biofilms. This study engineers and characterises mycobacteria grown as a suspended biofilm, illuminating new drug discovery pathways for this deadly disease.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

npj Biofilms and Microbiomes

ISSN

2055-5008

Publisher

Nature Research

Volume

7

Page range

1-8

Article number

a12

Department affiliated with

  • Global Health and Infection Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2021-01-22

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2021-02-02

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2021-01-22

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