This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Cunha, M. V. Articles by Sá-Correia, I. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Cunha, M. V. Articles by Sá-Correia, I.

Studies on the Involvement of the Exopolysaccharide Produced by Cystic Fibrosis-Associated Isolates of the Burkholderia cepacia Complex in Biofilm Formation and in Persistence of Respiratory Infections

Grupo de Ciências Biológicas, Centro de Engenharia Biológica e Química, Instituto Superior Técnico, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal

Received 20 January 2004/ Returned for modification 30 March 2004/ Accepted 6 April 2004

Bacteria belonging to the Burkholderia cepacia complex (BCC) are important opportunistic pathogens that lead to respiratory infections in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). The clinical outcome following colonization with BCC bacteria is highly variable, and so far, unpredictable. A large percentage (80 to 90%) of BCC isolates from CF patients produce the exopolysaccharide (EPS) cepacian, which has been hypothesized to play a role in the colonization and persistence of these bacteria in the CF lung. In this work, we demonstrate that although it is not required for the initiation of biofilm formation, cepacian plays a role in the establishment of thick biofilms. This conclusion was based on a comparison of the abilities of EPS-defective mutants derived from a B. cepacia mucoid CF isolate by random plasposon insertion mutagenesis and the ability of the parental strain to form biofilms. However, the systematic characterization of 108 CF isolates, corresponding to 15 distinct strains, indicated that other strain-dependent factors are also involved in the development of thick, mature biofilms. The isolates examined belonged to the species B. cepacia, B. multivorans, B. cenocepacia, and B. stabilis and were obtained during a 7-year period of surveillance from 21 CF patients receiving care at the major Portuguese CF center. Most of them (90%) were serial isolates from 12 persistently infected patients. In spite of the concept that bacteria growing in biofilms display more resistance to antibiotics and to host phagocyte killing than do planktonically growing cells, no clear correlation could be established between the ability of the various strains examined to produce EPS and/or to form biofilms in vitro and the persistence or virulence of the respiratory infections they caused in different patients.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Zlosnik, J. E. A., Hird, T. J., Fraenkel, M. C., Moreira, L. M., Henry, D. A., Speert, D. P. (2008). Differential Mucoid Exopolysaccharide Production by Members of the Burkholderia cepacia Complex. J. Clin. Microbiol. 46: 1470-1473 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Halwani, M., Mugabe, C., Azghani, A. O., Lafrenie, R. M., Kumar, A., Omri, A. (2007). Bactericidal efficacy of liposomal aminoglycosides against Burkholderia cenocepacia. J Antimicrob Chemother 60: 760-769 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Ferreira, A. S., Leitao, J. H., Sousa, S. A., Cosme, A. M., Sa-Correia, I., Moreira, L. M. (2007). Functional Analysis of Burkholderia cepacia Genes bceD and bceF, Encoding a Phosphotyrosine Phosphatase and a Tyrosine Autokinase, Respectively: Role in Exopolysaccharide Biosynthesis and Biofilm Formation. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 524-534 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Bylund, J., Burgess, L.-A., Cescutti, P., Ernst, R. K., Speert, D. P. (2006). Exopolysaccharides from Burkholderia cenocepacia Inhibit Neutrophil Chemotaxis and Scavenge Reactive Oxygen Species. J. Biol. Chem. 281: 2526-2532 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Videira, P. A., Garcia, A. P., Sa-Correia, I. (2005). Functional and Topological Analysis of the Burkholderia cenocepacia Priming Glucosyltransferase BceB, Involved in the Biosynthesis of the Cepacian Exopolysaccharide. J. Bacteriol. 187: 5013-5018 [Abstract] [Full Text]