Influence of calcium in extracellular DNA mediated bacterial aggregation and biofilm formation

PLoS One. 2014 Mar 20;9(3):e91935. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0091935. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Calcium (Ca(2+)) has an important structural role in guaranteeing the integrity of the outer lipopolysaccharide layer and cell walls of bacterial cells. Extracellular DNA (eDNA) being part of the slimy matrix produced by bacteria promotes biofilm formation through enhanced structural integrity of the matrix. Here, the concurrent role of Ca(2+) and eDNA in mediating bacterial aggregation and biofilm formation was studied for the first time using a variety of bacterial strains and the thermodynamics of DNA to Ca(2+) binding. It was found that the eDNA concentrations under both planktonic and biofilm growth conditions were different among bacterial strains. Whilst Ca(2+) had no influence on eDNA release, presence of eDNA by itself favours bacterial aggregation via attractive acid-base interactions in addition, its binding with Ca(2+) at biologically relevant concentrations was shown further increase in bacterial aggregation via cationic bridging. Negative Gibbs free energy (ΔG) values in iTC data confirmed that the interaction between DNA and Ca(2+) is thermodynamically favourable and that the binding process is spontaneous and exothermic owing to its highly negative enthalpy. Removal of eDNA through DNase I treatment revealed that Ca(2+) alone did not enhance cell aggregation and biofilm formation. This discovery signifies the importance of eDNA and concludes that existence of eDNA on bacterial cell surfaces is a key facilitator in binding of Ca(2+) to eDNA thereby mediating bacterial aggregation and biofilm formation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Bacteria / cytology*
  • Bacteria / drug effects
  • Biofilms / drug effects
  • Biofilms / growth & development*
  • Calcium / pharmacology*
  • DNA / metabolism*
  • Deoxyribonuclease I / metabolism
  • Extracellular Space / drug effects
  • Extracellular Space / metabolism*
  • Plankton / drug effects
  • Plankton / microbiology
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa / cytology
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa / drug effects
  • Thermodynamics

Substances

  • DNA
  • Deoxyribonuclease I
  • Calcium

Grants and funding

This work was funded by Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship Project ID FT100100078, http://www.arc.gov.au/. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.