Bacteria assume distinct lifestyles during the planktonic and biofilm modes of growth. Increased levels of the intracellular messenger c-di-GMP determine the transition from planktonic to biofilm growth, while a reduction causes biofilm dispersal. It is generally assumed that cells dispersed from biofilms immediately go into the planktonic growth phase. Here we use single-nucleotide resolution transcriptomic analysis to show that the physiology of dispersed cells from Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms is highly different from those of planktonic and biofilm cells. In dispersed cells, the expression of the small regulatory RNAs RsmY and RsmZ is downregulated, whereas secretion genes are induced. Dispersed cells are highly virulent against macrophages and Caenorhabditis elegans compared with planktonic cells. In addition, they are highly sensitive towards iron stress, and the combination of a biofilm-dispersing agent, an iron chelator and tobramycin efficiently reduces the survival of the dispersed cells.

g Bacteria communicate by means of small signal molecules in a process termed quorum sensing (QS). QS enables bacteria to organize their activities at the population level, including the coordinated secretion of virulence factors. Certain small-molecule compounds, known as quorum-sensing inhibitors (QSIs), have been shown to effectively block QS and subsequently attenuate the virulence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, as well as increasing its susceptibility to both antibiotics and the immune system. In this study, a structure-based virtual screening (SB-VS) approach was used for the discovery of novel QSI candidates. Three-dimensional structures of 3,040 natural compounds and their derivatives were obtained, after which molecular docking was performed using the QS receptor LasR as a target. Based on docking scores and molecular masses, 22 compounds were purchased to determine their efficacies as quorum-sensing inhibitors. Using a live reporter assay for quorum sensing, 5 compounds were found to be able to inhibit QS-regulated gene expression in P. aeruginosa in a dose-dependent manner. The most promising compound, G1, was evaluated by isobaric tag for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ)-based proteomic analysis, and it was found to significantly affect the abundance of 46 proteins (19 were upregulated; 27 were downregulated) in P. aeruginosa PAO1. It specifically reduced the expression of several quorum-sensing-regulated virulence factors, such as protease IV, chitinase, and pyoverdine synthetases. G1 was also able to reduce extracellular DNA release and inhibited the secretion of the virulence factor, elastase, whose expression is regulated by LasR. These results demonstrate the utility of SB-VS for the discovery of target-specific QSIs.

e Bis-(3=-5=)-cyclic dimeric GMP (c-di-GMP) is an intracellular second messenger that controls the lifestyles of many bacteria. A high intracellular level of c-di-GMP induces a biofilm lifestyle, whereas a low intracellular level of c-di-GMP stimulates dispersal of biofilms and promotes a planktonic lifestyle. Here, we used the expression of different reporters to show that planktonic cells, biofilm cells, and cells dispersed from biofilms (DCells) had distinct intracellular c-di-GMP levels. Proteomics analysis showed that the low intracellular c-di-GMP level of DCells induced the expression of proteins required for the virulence and development of antimicrobial peptide resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In accordance with this, P. aeruginosa cells with low c-di-GMP levels were found to be more resistant to colistin than P. aeruginosa cells with high c-di-GMP levels. This finding contradicts the current dogma stating that dispersed cells are inevitably more susceptible to antibiotics than their sessile counterparts.