Research

Kaboom! Exploding cells, phage, and biofilm formation

A new study in Nature Communications shows how exploding cells contribute to biofilm formation.

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Ben Libberton
Apr 15, 2016
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Researchers in Australia have shown that Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells "explode" causing the formation of membrane vesicles and the release of cell contents that are important for biofilm formation. They also showed that this explosive lysis was mediated by enzymes from a cryptic prophage.

Read more at Nature Communications.

Explosive cell lysis as a mechanism for the biogenesis of bacterial membrane vesicles and biofilms

Lynne Turnbull, Masanori Toyofuku, Amelia L. Hynen, Masaharu Kurosawa, Gabriella Pessi, Nicola K. Petty, Sarah R. Osvath, Gerardo Cárcamo-Oyarce, Erin S. Gloag, Raz Shimoni, Ulrich Omasits, Satoshi Ito, Xinhui Yap, Leigh G. Monahan, Rosalia Cavaliere, Christian H. Ahrens, Ian G. Charles, Nobuhiko Nomura, Leo Eberl & Cynthia B. Whitchurch

Nature Communications 7, Article number: 11220 doi:10.1038/ncomms11220

http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2016/160414/ncomms112...

Go to the profile of Ben Libberton

Ben Libberton

Communications Officer, MAX IV Laboratory

I'm a Communications Officer at MAX IV Laboratory in Lund, Sweden, formally a Postdoc in the biofilm field. I'm interested in how bacteria cause disease and look to technology to produce novel tools to study and ultimately prevent infection. Part of my current role is to find ways to use synchrotron radiation to study microorganisms.

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