Characterization of functional amyloid curli in biofilm formation of an environmental isolate Enterobacter cloacae SBP-8

Abstract The biofilm formation by bacteria is a complex process that is strongly mediated by various genetic and environmental factors. Biofilms contribute to disease infestation, especially in chronic infections. It is, therefore important to understand the factors affecting biofilm formation. This study reports the role of a functional amyloid curli in biofilm formation at various abiotic surfaces, including medical devices, by an environmental isolate of Enterobacter cloacae (SBP-8). A knockout mutant of csgA , a structural gene of curli, was created to study the effect of curli on biofilm formation by E. cloacae SBP-8. Our findings confirm curli production at 25°C and 37°C in the wild-type strain. We further investigated the role of curli in the attachment of E. cloacae SBP-8 to glass, enteral feeding tube, and foley latex catheter. Contrary to the previous studies reporting the curli production below 30°C in most biofilm-forming bacterial species, we observed its production in E. cloacae SBP-8 at 37°C. The formation of more intense biofilm in wild-type strain on various surfaces compared to curli-deficient strain (Δ csgA ) at both 25°C and 37°C suggested a prominent role of curli in biofilm formation. Further, electron and confocal microscopy studies demonstrated the formation of diffused monolayers of microbial cells on the abiotic surfaces by Δ csgA strain as compared to the thick biofilm by respective wild-type strain, indicating the involvement of curli in biofilm formation by E. cloacae SBP-8. Overall, our findings provide insight into biofilm formation mediated by curli in E. cloacae SBP-8. Further, we show that it can be expressed at a physiological temperature on all surfaces, thereby indicating the potential role of curli in the pathogenesis.