Search

Bacterial biofilms are ubiquitous in nature, and their flexibility is derived in part from a complex extracellular matrix that can be made-to-order to cope with environmental demand. Although common developmental stages leading to biofilm formation have been described, an in-depth knowledge of genetic and signaling is required to understand biofilm formation. Bacteria detect changes in population density by quorum sensing and particular environmental conditions, using signals such as cyclic di-GMP or nitric oxide. The significance of understanding these signaling pathways lies in that they control a broad variety of functions such as biofilm formation, and motility, providing benefits to bacteria as regards host colonization, defense against competitors, and adaptation to changing environments. Due to the importance of these features, we here review the signaling network and regulatory connections among quorum sensing, c-di-GMP and nitric oxide involving biofilm formation., (Copyright © 2014 Asociación Argentina de Microbiología. Publicado por Elsevier España. All rights reserved.)

The availability of multiple bacterial genome sequences has led to the discovery of several conserved domains of proteins. Recently, GGDEF and EAL domains have been described as domains responsible for the synthesis and degradation of c-di-GMP, a second messenger in bacteria. c-di-GMP has been involved in cellulose production and identified as a global regulator of several processes such as biofilm formation, motility and virulence, presumibly through a modification of the cell surface properties.