O'Toole Lab Review in Annual Reviews of Microbiology

Annu Rev Microbiol

George O'Toole and his lab in Microbiology and Immunology have a recent review in Annual Reviews of Microbiology.  It summarizes 20 years of work studying biofilm formation and c-di-GMP signaling in Pseudomonas fluorescens@GeiselBiofilm

 

2020 Sep 8;74:607-631. doi: 10.1146/annurev-micro-011520-094214.Epub 2020 Jul 20.

From Input to Output: The Lap/c-di-GMP Biofilm Regulatory Circuit

Alan J Collins 1 2T Jarrod Smith 2 3Holger Sondermann 4George A O'Toole 2

Affiliations expand

Abstract

Biofilms are the dominant bacterial lifestyle. The regulation of the formation and dispersal of bacterial biofilms has been the subject of study in many organisms. Over the last two decades, the mechanisms of Pseudomonas fluorescens biofilm formation and regulation have emerged as among the best understood of any bacterial biofilm system. Biofilm formation by P. fluorescensoccurs through the localization of an adhesin, LapA, to the outer membrane via a variant of the classical type I secretion system. The decision between biofilm formation and dispersal is mediated by LapD, a c-di-GMP receptor, and LapG, a periplasmic protease, which together control whether LapA is retained or released from the cell surface. LapA localization is also controlled by a complex network of c-di-GMP-metabolizing enzymes. This review describes the current understanding of LapA-mediated biofilm formation by P. fluorescens and discusses several emerging models for the regulation and function of this adhesin.