Background

Staphylococcus epidermidis has long been known as a major bacterial coloniser of the human skin, yet it is also a prominent nosocomial pathogen. Its remarkable ability to assemble structured biofilms has been its major known pathogenic feature to date. Notwithstanding important discoveries that have been accomplished, several questions about S. epidermidis biofilm formation still remain to be elucidated. This study aimed to assess whether iron availability modulates S. epidermidis biofilm formation and, if so, to explore how such modulation occurs. Biofilms of three S. epidermidis strains were grown under iron-enriched/-deficient conditions and several physiologic and transcriptomic changes were assessed. Our data revealed that while physiologic iron levels do not compromise biofilm formation, iron excess or deficiency is detrimental for this process. Conversely, biofilm cells were not affected in the same way when grown planktonically. By studying biofilm cells in detail we found that their viability and cultivability were seriously compromised by iron deficiency. Also, a temporal analysis of biofilm formation revealed that iron excess/deficiency: i) impaired biomass accumulation from 6h onwards, and ii) induced changes in the biofilm structure, indicating that iron availability plays a pivotal role from an early biofilm development stage. The expression of several putative iron-related genes, namely encoding siderophore biosynthesis/transport-related proteins, was found to be modulated by iron availability, providing a biological validation of their function on S. epidermidis iron metabolism. This study therefore provides evidence that iron plays a pivotal role on S. epidermidis biofilm formation.

Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) are common bacterial colonizers of the human skin. They are often involved in nosocomial infections due to biofilm formation in indwelling medical devices. While biofilm formation has been extensively studied in Staphylococcus epidermidis, little is known regarding other CoNS species. Here, biofilms from six different CoNS species were characterized in terms of biofilm composition and architecture. Interestingly, the ability to form a thick biofilm was not associated with any particular species, and high variability on biofilm accumulation was found within the same species. Cell viability assays also revealed different proportions of live and dead cells within biofilms formed by different species, although this parameter was particularly similar at the intraspecies level. On the other hand, biofilm disruption assays demonstrated important inter- and intraspecies differences regarding extracellular matrix composition. Lastly, confocal laser scanning microscopy experiments confirmed this variability, highlighting important differences and common features of CoNS biofilms. We hypothesized that the biofilm formation heterogeneity observed was rather associated with biofilm matrix composition than with cells themselves. Additionally, our results indicate that polysaccharides, DNA and proteins are fundamental pieces in the process of CoNS biofilm formation.

These results reinforce the concept that S. epidermidis is an 'accidental pathogen,' and that the ica operon is the main mechanism of biofilm formation in clinical and commensal isolates.

Staphylococcus epidermidis is a major causative agent of nosocomial infections, mainly associated with the use of indwelling devices, on which this bacterium forms structures known as biofilms. Due to biofilms’ high tolerance to antibiotics, virulent bacteriophages were previously tested as novel therapeutic agents. However, several staphylococcal bacteriophages were shown to be inefficient against biofilms. In this study, the previously characterized S. epidermidis-specific Sepunavirus phiIBB-SEP1 (SEP1), which has a broad spectrum and high activity against planktonic cells, was evaluated concerning its efficacy against S. epidermidis biofilms. The in vitro biofilm killing assays demonstrated a reduced activity of the phage. To understand the underlying factors impairing SEP1 inefficacy against biofilms, this phage was tested against distinct planktonic and biofilm-derived bacterial populations. Interestingly, SEP1 was able to lyse planktonic cells in different physiological states, suggesting that the inefficacy for biofilm control resulted from the biofilm 3D structure and the protective effect of the matrix. To assess the impact of the biofilm architecture on phage predation, SEP1 was tested in disrupted biofilms resulting in a 2 orders-of-magnitude reduction in the number of viable cells after 6 h of infection. The interaction between SEP1 and the biofilm matrix was further assessed by the addition of matrix to phage particles. Results showed that the matrix did not inactivate phages nor affected phage adsorption. Moreover, confocal laser scanning microscopy data demonstrated that phage infected cells were less predominant in the biofilm regions where the matrix was more abundant. Our results provide compelling evidence indicating that the biofilm matrix can work as a barrier, allowing the bacteria to be hindered from phage infection.

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Carvacrol is a potential antimicrobial agent, which applicability for the prevention and/or treatment of coagulase-negative staphylococci biofilm-associated infections is worthwhile investigating in more detail.

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